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The Colorado Rapids traveled to Harrison, New Jersey to take on the New York Red Bulls in Robin Fraser’s first match as Rapids’ manager—and they leave with their first win ever at Red Bull Arena. He showed a 3-5-2 formation (or a 3-4-1-2 by some accounts) with a number of young players like Sebastian Anderson, Cole Bassett, and Sammy Vines in the starting XI. Curiously, Andre Shinyashiki was on the bench and three starters were missing due to yellow card accumulation: Kei Kamara, Lalas Abubakar, and Kellyn Acosta.
In the 13th minute, the Rapids had a scare as Bradley Wright-Phillips hit one off the woodwork!
On the ensuing counter, the Rapids got on the board first as Jonathan Lewis (in his first start since July 13th) had a nice run that eluded the defender, then scored on the cut back with an expert chip. And that slide! 1-0 Rapids!
Not sure which is better from @Jon_lewis710: The goal or the knee slide #Rapids96 | #RBNYvCOL pic.twitter.com/t84Ap8BgNZ
— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) August 31, 2019
In the 31st minute, the Red Bulls should have equalized and Tim Parker (RBNY) had goalkeeper Tim Howard (COL) beaten, but could not put the header on frame.
The Rapids started the second half with Nicolas Mezquida coming on for Sebastian Anderson and things went well on both ends of the pitch for the Burgundy Boys.
In the 58th minute, our own Sammy Vines (COL) made a goal-saving tackle, adding even more to the hope that he will certainly be part of the future of the Rapids moving forward.
In the 69th minute, Nicholas Mezquida almost gave the Rapids a comfortable 2-0 lead, but alas, it was too high!
Over the next ten minutes, the Rapids had plenty of opportunities, but a reluctance to shoot. And when they did...
Decent save from Robles #Rapids96 | #RBNYvCOL pic.twitter.com/BkyieZTTOF
— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) September 1, 2019
And again...
Luis Robles...again! #RBNYvCOL pic.twitter.com/YaHxpX3385
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 1, 2019
In the 85th minute, Tim Parker (RBNY) missed wide again! He would rue that miss, for just a few minutes later, Jonathan Lewis got his brace to put the Rapids up 2-0.
.@Jon_lewis710 with the brace! #RBNYvCOL pic.twitter.com/ACAWyZiS2t
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 1, 2019
And that’s it! First win at Red Bull Arena. First road win since May. What a debut for Robin Fraser.