NFLBy: Keith Richards
Last Saturday, the Colorado Rapids continued their home dominance of Sporting Kansas City with a 2-0 victory. Diego Rubio’s left-footer in the 21st minute was all the Rapids needed. Mark-Anthony Kaye added the insurance goal in the 51st minute, and Kansas City could never recover. It was Rubio’s second goal of this year’s campaign and Kaye’s first.
After struggling for much of the first half, Sporting KC found their stride ten minutes before the half. Throughout the rest of the match, Kansas City would hold a significant possession edge (56%-44%) but could not create many meaningful chances. Sporting outshot the Rapids 13-9, but both teams had three shots on goal. Again, William Yarbrough was the difference for Colorado. Yarbrough had four saves compared to Melia’s one.
Lucas Esteves would leave the match in the 67th minute with an apparent limb injury. However, the injury does not appear to be serious, and his services will be needed Saturday when the Rapids visit the Houston Dynamo. Houston comes into the match at 1-1-1 as Colorado will look to pick up its first road win of the season.
The task should not be too difficult as the Rapids have not lost in Houston since 2016. The Dynamo are in their first year with new coach Paulo Nagamura and are still molding. All signs point to Colorado winning this match easily, but possession will be critical. While the Rapids have won their last two games despite losing the possession battle, constantly chasing is not a habit you want to keep.
Come back again next week as we recap the Dynamo match and look forward to the match against Real Salt Lake. Also, check out our other expanding MLS coverage!
