Game Recap: Colorado Rapids 2, Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0 - Crisis Averted

There was a collective sigh of relief when the final whistle blew and the score ended 2-0 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park this evening. After a week of speculation, mild concern to Chicken-Little-the-sky-is-falling level panic, and hoping that last weekend was a fluke, the Colorado Rapids handily beat Vancouver Whitecaps FC, continuing the unbeaten streak at home and (hopefully) starting a new win streak. The scoreline might have been just two goals for Colorado, possession was almost 50/50, and duels won were about 50/50, but most of the time, it felt like Colorado was dominating the game. Not to mention there were a couple missed chances that could have easily put the Rapids up three or four to nothing.

Bobby Burling was back today and played really well He had a great header early on, and didn’t seem to have missed a beat. Dillon Powers stepped in to the 6/8 role for the suspended Michael Azira, and also had a great game. He had played the ball well, and even got a solid header on goal, but it went straight at the keeper.

With just two minutes left in the first half, Marc Burch crossed a ball in, it rolled past the Vancouver defense, and none other than Marlon Hairston stepped up and poked it in. This was Hairston’s third goal in four games (all three goals were in the last three home games).

In the second half, Vancouver had a couple scary looks, but nothing serious. In the 60th minute, Eric Miller megged a Vancouver defender as he passed it to Hairston, who then put a gorgeous cross on the ground to Dominique Badji. Badji slammed the ball past David Ousted, putting the Rapids up 2-0.

I was sure that Shkëlzen Gashi was going to get a goal tonight, because he was shooting from basically anywhere, anytime he got a chance, but sadly, he didn’t end up scoring tonight.

Sebastian Le Toux subbed in for Dominique Badji in the 74th minute for his Rapids debut. He looked a little lost, and totally shanked a somewhat easy cross, but overall didn’t look too bad for having just joined the team a couple days ago.

The Rapids avoided getting any cards tonight, but the Whitecaps managed to accumulate three - David Edgar at 29 min., Christian Bolaños at 64 min., and Kendall Waston in the 89th min.

How are you feeling after this win? If you were worried after last week, how do you feel now? Tell us in the comments!