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The Colorado Rapids and the San Jose Earthquakes open their 2016 season today in a clash held at Avaya Stadium. As we prepare for this match, I ran the match through FIFA 2016 and the Rapids came away with a gritty 1-0 road win to start the season. The Rapids were led by a gorgeous goal from distance for Kevin Doyle and a penalty kick save by Zac MacMath. It was not the best brand of soccer you will see, but a win is a win and the Rapids start the season off on the right foot.
The Rapids Starting XI:
Zac MacMath, Eric Miller, Bobby Burling, Axel Sjoberg, Marc Burch, Micheal Azira, Sam Cronin, Dominique Badji, Shkelzen Gashi, Dillon Powers, Kevin Doyle
Match Facts:
8th Min--YELLOW CARD--Miller (Rapids) with the booking with a tackle from behind near the mid-line.
26th Min--CHANCE--The Quakes have a terrific chance but MacMath is up for it and tips it over the bar.
34th Min--YELLOW CARD--Doyle (Rapids) is booked for taking out the Quakes keeper, David Bingham
37th Min--CHANCE--The Rapids have their best look of the night with Doyle's shot saved and the Rapids get a corner kick. The resulting corner kick finds its way out to Miller who finds his shot saved by Bingham.
48th Min--CHANCE--Gashi sees his low curling effort saved by Bingham. Rapids grab a corner out of it
62nd Min--CHANCE--The Quakes have a free kick from a dangerous area that is headed out for a corner.
64th Min--GOAL--The Rapids score on the counter and Kevin Doyle buries it from about 19 yards. What a blast from the Rapids Captain!
71st Min--YELLOW CARD--Gashi (Rapids) goes into the book with a rash challenge. That is the third booking for the Burgundy Boys
72nd Min--SUBSTITUTION--the Rapids make their first change of the night with Dillon Serna coming on for Powers and Zach Pfeffer coming on for Azira.
77th Min--CHANCE--the Quakes have a beautiful chance and an open net but head it wide. How did they miss???
77th Min--INJURY--Cronin pulls his calf and needs to be subbed out. Jared Watts (it is) in for the Rapids.
78th Min--YELLOW CARD--Wow, Watts is booked just one minute into his shift.
84th Min--PENALTY KICK--Oh, no. The Rapids surrender a penalty kick late in the match. Burling with the foul.
84th Min--PENALTY SAVE!!!!! MacMath with the MASSIVE save to preserve the 0-1 lead for the Rapids! WOW!
The Statistics:
Colorado Rapids | San Jose Earthquakes | |
Score | 1 | 0 |
Shots | 10 | 6 |
Shots on Goal | 7 | 2 |
Possession | 42% | 58% |
Fouls | 6 | 2 |
Bookings | 4 | 0 |
The Rapids and Quakes kick off for real on Altitude 2 at 1:00 PM MST today!