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Well surprise surprise surprise!
The Rapids won Saturday. They scored a bucket of goals. And they changed formations for the first time in over a year. I can’t say that anybody saw any of those things coming.
Colorado’s shift to a 4-4-2 (maybe really a 4-2-2-2, but that’s a conversation for Backpass) and a change-up of personnel led to a dominant performance over the San Jose Earthquakes. Two first-half goals had San Jose chasing the game by the end of the first half, and a third goal off of a ridiculous pass from Dominique Badji from his butt pretty much iced the game in the 56th minute. Final score: 3-0 to Colorado.
The win was all the more significant in that it ended a horrendous five-game losing streak. It was the first time the Rapids had scored since April 15, and the 3 goals scored marked the highest total for the club this year. The last time Colorado bagged 3 goals in a game was October 8, 2016, against the Houston Dynamo.
HIGHLIGHTS
Watch highlights here if you don’t see a video above.
MATCH SUMMARY
Final Score: Colorado Rapids 3 - San Jose Earthquakes 0
Date: Saturday, May 13, 2017
Venue: Dick’s Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City, CO
Referee: Edvin Jurisevic
Assistants: Jeffrey Greeson, Mike Rottersman
Fourth Official: Baldomero Toledo
Attendance: 14,567
Weather: 80 and sunny
***
SCORING SUMMARY
29’ - COL - Shkëlzen Gashi (Mohammed Saeid, Dillon Powers)
35’ - COL - Dominique Badji (Alan Gordon)
56’ - COL - Shkëlzen Gashi (Dominique Badji, Alan Gordon)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
42’ - COL - Dillon Powers (caution)
55’ - COL - Eric Miller (caution)
***
LINEUPS & STATS
Colorado Rapids: Tim Howard; Marlon Hairston, Bobby Burling, Jared Watts, Eric Miller; Shkelzen Gashi, Micheal Azira, Dillon Powers, Mohammed Saeid (Dillon Serna 82’); Alan Gordon (Kevin Doyle 63’), Dominique Badji (Caleb Calvert 76’)
Subs not used: Zac MacMath, Mike Da Fonte, Joshua Gatt, Sam Hamilton
Total Shots: 7
Shots on Goal: 4
Corners: 2
Passing Accuracy: 82%
Possession: 43.5%
Fouls: 16
Offside: 1
Saves: 2
*
San Jose Earthquakes: David Bingham; Cordell Cato, Florian Jungwirth, Victor Bernardez, Kofi Sarkodie; Darwin Ceren, Anibal Godoy (Fatai Alashe 63’), Jahmir Hyka (Simon Dawkins 72’), Danny Hoesen; Marco Ureña (Tommy Thompson 63’), Chris Wondolowski
Subs not used: Andrew Tarbell; Shaun Francis, Nick Lima, Jackson Yueill
Total Shots: 11
Shots on Goal: 2
Corners: 2
Passing Accuracy: 84%
Possession: 56.5%
Fouls: 5
Offside: 1
Saves: 1
POST-GAME QUOTES
“(The win) was important for this whole group. As I said last week, I thought we played really well [against Vancouver] and we just weren’t able to get that goal. Overall, this was our most complete performance – getting on the board and closing down shop by making it very difficult for our opponents. It was a collective effort, the guys played extremely well together. Winning and losing happens on the field and tonight’s performance was the most professional performance I’ve probably been a part of as head coach.”
“I’m an in-game pessimist. Once we score, I make sure we’re locked in and can’t feel like that’s a cushion. I think it was about breaking that losing streak and getting back on the front foot. This was the game we needed – particularly going into a long week.”