Rapids Win with Complete Performance

By BrianJennings

True to his hints last week, Colorado Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni went with a couple of changes for Saturday’s match with San Jose and it paid off handsomely in the convincing 3-0 win.

By bringing Dominique Badji and Alan Gordon forward together, along with starting normal-winger Marlon Hairston at right back, the Rapids were able to vary their attack using pace from different areas of the field to keep the Earthquakes on their heels.

Midfielder Dillon Powers, who along with Michael Azira moved up into that midfield line just a bit, said there still had to be a balance but fans could see what was possible early in the first half.  “The formational shift allowed us to throw a bit more numbers forward,” Powers told The Voice of C38 postmatch.  “In general just trying to get more numbers forward and I think that kind of lends itself to the goals we scored.”

“We were able to get our wide guys wide and it showed in the first goal.  You get Mo (Saeid) on the ball and just two passes, bang-bang, and it’s a goal.  Our two guys in front did a good job pressing that’s where the second goal came from.”

On both occasions, there were more options either running into the box or high up the attacking end so all that essentially had to be done was Shkelzen Gashi and Badji finishing their chances which they did perfectly on the day.

That didn’t mean, however, that the defensive shape could be compromised which Powers stated was a matter of reading play and moving as a unit and not just an individual.  “The defensive piece is quite similar. The responsibility is to release in the attack but also be mindful of trying to stop the transition right away, which we could have done a better at, but given the circumstances of the game we did ok.”  

“In this game, they had a little more time in that middle part of the field where we really just have to shift, cover each other back and forth, and a lot of that is pretty laborious.”

Only one occasion provided a bit of nervousness for Rapids fans as San Jose was able to spring a shot from inside the penalty area in the 61^st minute but Tim Howard was as wall in turning away the only real threat on the day.