On a night when a backup keeper ties a franchise record for saves in a single game, there’s not much else you can do than to tip your cap.
Either way, the Colorado Rapids are winless in their last three games, giving up 11 goals in that span. Three of them came against Houston Wednesday night, the Dynamo securing a 3-1 win at home against a Rapids team which has been up and down the past month.
Via a career performance by Dynamo backup keeper Andrew Tarbell, who amassed 10 saves on the night, Houston won its second game in its last eight tries.
Defensively, the Rapids will be left scratching their heads at the amount of goals allowed in the past few weeks, with a bottom five goals against figure of 29 in just 16 games so far this season.
The icing on the cake was an 80th minute strike from outside the box by Sebastian Kowalczyk, spurred by a counterattack and assisted by Ibrahim Aliyu. Transition plays have been a focal point of the defensive struggles of late, and it showed as Houston put the game away with its third goal of the night.
Here are three takeaways from a disappointing loss against the Dynamo:
Defensive concerns persist
Only three MLS teams have given up more goals than the Rapids this season, and only one has given up more than the Rapids (14) in the past five games (Montreal, 15).
Coach Chris Armas felt the team did well in limiting what stars like Hector Herrera and Griffin Dorsey were able to do. But he knows even if star players struggle, a team like Houston can wear you down by playing the game “on their terms,” he said.
“There’s a lot of things that go into conceding goals,” Armas said. “We always look hard at plays, we have an open eye and we self-reflect.
“We’re a work in progress and I’ve said that we’re going to make mistakes. We have a fairly young team.”
Armas mixes up rotations amidst three-game week
The Rapids didn’t shuffle lineups too much the last time they played three games in a single week. Wednesday night, they did so in multiple areas.
Connor Ronan got his first start since March in a double-pivot with Jasper Löffelsend, who got his first start in a Rapids jersey, leaving Cole Bassett out wide to the left to pair nicely with central midfielder Djordje Mihailovic and left back Sam Vines. Additionally, Sebastian Anderson started in place of captain Keegan Rosenberry.
For the most part, the changes were to keep legs fresh and to try to mix things up. There were a few moments where Bassett looked much more comfortable in a more attacking role, at times ending up on the complete opposite side of the field to facilitate the offense.
For Armas, it was nice to see Ronan back healthy enough to play more than 45 minutes, his style of play complimenting the team on both sides of the ball. But what intrigued him the most was Anderson, who did very well to keep Aliyu at bay aside from his assist.
“Seb had a really good game. So impressive for me how he showed up on the night,” Armas said. “I think some of those changes and the way the guys showed up on the night gave us a real chance to be in the game and maybe win.”
Rapids struggle in front of goal
Rapids goal poacher Rafael Navarro had a chance to tie the franchise record of six straight games with a goal at the spot, but was denied a penalty goal for the second game in a row. Tarbell palmed the ball straight to a streaking Mihailovic, who timed a run well and ended up in the right spot to follow up and put it away for the Rapids’ only goal.
Aside from that, 16 shots from the Rapids hardly tell the story. In multiple instances, the Rapids would enter the final third or Houston’s penalty box and would rush a bad pass or not make a pass at all, which was just one of the ways Houston made the game be played on its own terms: by clogging the box and speeding up the Rapids’ decision making.
For Mihailovic, who put himself in prime positions for layoffs to be played to him only for a pass to be errant or to not come at all, the Rapids’ attackers just need to show a bit more composure.
Those things will be put to the test on the road against arguably a better Vancouver Whitecaps team Saturday.
“When you get into the final third, it’s about almost trying to slow things down,” Mihailovic said. “That’s when everybody gets a bit anxious and that’s normal. But it’s about recognizing that you have a lot more time than you think.”
