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We all hoped this home stretch would be good for the Colorado Rapids - they desperately needed some points, and we all desperately needed some confidence in our Burgundy Boys - and so far, that’s what we’re getting. After stealing a win from Sporting Kansas City last week, the Rapids grabbed a well-deserved three points from Columbus Crew this week with two late goals (including Alan Gordon’s first goal as a Rapid). Though Colorado is still at the bottom of the conference, they are just three points away from jumping up three spots.
The Rapids are 4-8-1 with 13 points and have anywhere from 1-3 games in hand when compared to many other Western Conference teams.
HIGHLIGHTS
See the highlights here.
MATCH SUMMARY
Final Score: Colorado Rapids 2 - Columbus 1
Date: Saturday, June 3, 2017
Venue: Dick’s Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City, CO
Referee: Ismail Elfath
Assistants: Eric Weisbrod, Kathryn Nesbitt
Fourth Official: Juan Guzman Jr.
Attendance: 17,586
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SCORING SUMMARY
61’ - CLB - Federico Higuaín (Justin Meram)
80’ - COL - Kevin Doyle (Marlon Hairston, Mohammed Saeid)
86’ - COL - Alan Gordon (Joshua Gatt)
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MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
48’ - COL: Kevin Doyle (unsporting behavior)
73’ - COL - Kortne Ford (unsporting behavior)
79’ - COL - Micheal Azira (unsporting behavior)
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LINEUPS & STATS
Colorado (4-4-2): Zac MacMath; Marlon Hairston, Mike da Fonte, Kortne Ford, Eric Miller; Shkelzen Gashi, Dillon Powers (67’ Josh Gatt), Micheal Azira, Mohammed Saeid; Dominique Badji (73’ Caleb Calvert), Kevin Doyle (82’ Alan Gordon)
Substitutes not used: John Berner, Dillon Serna, Sam Hamilton
Total shots: 11
Shots on goal: 7
Corners: 3
Passing Accuracy: 71%
Possession: 38%
Fouls: 16
Offsides: 1
Saves: 3
Clearances: 21
*
Columbus (3-4-2-1): Zack Steffen; Nicolai Naess (83’ Jonathan Mensah), Alex Crognale (89’ Niko Hansen), Josh Williams; Waylon Francis, Mohammed Abu (75’ Artur), Wil Trapp, Harrison Afful; Justin Meram, Federico Higuain; Ola Kamara
Substitutes not used: Brad Stuver, Jukka Raitala, Ethan Finlay, Kekuta Manneh
Total shots: 15
Shots on goal: 5
Corners: 5
Passing Accuracy: 82%
Possession: 62%
Fouls: 10
Offsides: 0
Saves: 5
Clearances: 23
POST-GAME QUOTES
“What I really want to speak to is the character of the group. Losing a couple of players, a backline that has very little experience, zero experience playing together and doing a really great job maintaining one of the most prolific attacks in the league. The guys that came in changed the game for the good, the guys that started the game worked their tails off and put themselves in good positions to win the game. It’s the same old story for me, when you believe in each other and when you believe in the group, good things happen. I could not be more proud to be the leader of this group.”
“We have a great group here, it was a tough start to the season but now that we’re starting to get our chemistry going, we’ll always be a tough team to beat here at home. Last year, that was our rock and this stadium was a fortress. Once we got that first goal, I knew we were going to be able to get the win.”
“We’re a resilient bunch and that’s the theme of our squad. We’ll keep fighting, it’s not always going to work out but this time we fought hard and came back. We didn’t put our heads down when they scored on us – we kept fighting and got one. That’s the sign of good character.”