April 23, 2016 –Seattle Sounders rolled into Dick’s Sporting Goods Park for a clash against the Colorado Rapids.
The weather in Denver was much improved following last weekend’s “Snow Clasico” in the mile high city. There were a few drops of rain during the warm ups but the only weather concern was the wind which had been gusty and swirling in the hours leading up to the game.
The big news coming into the match was that Seattle was without Clint Dempsey who missed his first game of the 2016 season with tightness in his groin. Seattle was also with designated player Nelson Valdez who was similarly benched for precautionary reasons after he felt tightness in his hamstring during Seattle’s Friday practice. Both players are expected to be back for Seattle’s next fixture against Columbus Crew on April 30th.
Colorado lined up the same team that played against New York the week prior, save for Marco Pappa who is out for 2-4 weeks with an MCL strain. Pappa must be heartbroken to miss the chance to face his former employers, especially as this match is the only time these two clubs are scheduled to face each other this season. Dominique Badji got the start in Pappa’s place. The Rapids were buoyed by the return of designated player Kevin Doyle, who started the game on the bench, but Colorado is still without several key defenders.
In warm ups Rapid Defender Marc Burch, who has been solid all season, walked off the pitch appearing to be supporting his groin. Shortly afterward it was announced that Burch was scratched from the starting lineup and replaced by towering defender Axel Sjoberg. The official word from the Rapids is that Burch has an abductor strain.
The game started ominously for Colorado after Dominique Badji was shown a yellow card in the first 30 seconds of play for a tackle from behind, but the Rapids settled in soon after that. In the 11th minute Colorado had a great chance to go in front. Colorado stole the ball at midfield and Shkelzen Gashi stormed toward the Seattle defense with the ball. Gashi slipped the ball to his left to Luis Solignac who cut inside and shot lamely straight to Seattle keeper Frei.
Seattle countered right away and sent a long ball over the Rapid defense. Colorado defender Axel Sjoberg, in for the injured Burch, couldn’t get a head on the ball and allowed Hercules Gomez to send a low hard cross into the box. Though there was no one to get on the end of the ball, Zac MacMath attempted to clear and, as he has in previous games, made a mess of the situation. He cleared the ball to the top of the box and Sounder midfielder Andreas Ivanschitz had a chance to score. MacMath was lucky to get away with the error as Ivanschitz sent the ball high over the bar into the stands.
Colorado celebrates after Jermaine Jones scored the opening goal. (Photo Credit: Corbin Elliott)
Colorado had the better possession to open the game and in the 20th minute opened the scoring. Shkelzen Gashi sent in a beautiful in-curling free kick from the right wing and Jermaine Jones rose to meet it, heading Colorado into the lead.
Colorado looked dangerous from dead ball situations all night. Just minutes after the opening goal Gashi sent in another free kick that Jones once again met. The ball sailed high over the bar, but not too far. In the 30th minute it happened again, this time a deflection off a Sounder defender was all that stood between Jones and a second goal.
After Jones’ near miss in the 30th minute Seattle drove down field and Hercules Gomez forced a reaction save from Zac MacMath with a header from Joevin Jones looping cross.
Gashi had a great opportunity to get on the score sheet just before the halftime whistle when a poor clearance landed at his feet. The Albanian international let the ball bounce once before striking it hard on the volley, sending the ball sizzling just over Frei’s goal.
The absence of Clint Dempsey had a huge negative impact for Seattle. They struggled to move the ball through the midfield and couldn’t find many openings in attack. Jordan Morris continued to improve and made some intelligent diagonal runs off the backs of defenders, but Morris doesn’t hold the ball up or drop in to midfield the same way Dempsey does.
After half time Seattle did look better, but in the 52nd minute Colorado increased their advantage. Michael Azira sent a long diagonal ball over the top of Seattle’s defense spotting the perfectly timed run of Dominique Badji. The left winger brought the ball down well and dribbled to the end line before squaring the ball to forward Luis Solignac for an easy tap in.
In the 59th minute the Rapids brought on Dennis Castillo, the 37th selection in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft who signed with Colorado on April 22nd.
Jordan Morris rounds Mekeil Williams to score for Seattle. (Photo Credit: Corbin Elliott)
In the 63rd minute Seattle finally got on the board through a superb effort from Jordan Morris. The young forward picked up a Cristian Roldan’s cross just outside the 18 yard-box, juked inside and then drove right, into the box, beating Rapid defender Mekeil Williams with a burst of speed. It took just two touches for Morris to make the move and then the former Stanford star drilled the ball low and hard across Zac MacMath’s goal, finding the bottom left corner to pull the Sounders back into the match.
Just four minutes later, in the 67th minute, Colorado earned a penalty kick after Bobby Burling was hauled down in the box while contesting a corner kick. Hercules Gomez was the player responsible for the foul. The call seemed a bit soft as both defenders were grabbing each other in the build up, but referee Jorge Gonzalez had a great view of the incident.
There was some controversy as Jermaine Jones and Shkelzen Gashi wrestled over the ball, each player wanting to take the spot kick. Gashi’s will won out in the end but his shot to the bottom left corner was saved by Frei.
Kevin Doyle made his first appearance for Colorado after he was injured while playing for Ireland during the last international break. He came on in the 78th minute to replace Dominique Badji who appeared to have injured his thigh. The substitution would prove to be important because in the 86th minute Colorado put the game away.
Debutant Dennis Castillo sent in a beautiful cross from the right wing and Doyle met the ball at the near post, flicking it past Stefan Frei for Colorado’s third goal on the evening.
Replays showed that Doyle was clearly offside but the goal did stand. Seattle captain Brad Evans was then sent off for dissent as he argued his case to referee Gonzalez.
Minutes later the final whistle sounded with the final score 3-1 in favor of the Rapids.
Colorado remains perfect at home and improves to 5-2-1, while Seattle drops to 2-4-1 with the loss.
Defender Joevin Jones on the left wing was a bright spot on the night for Seattle. He found joy in one on one situations either taking on his defender and beating him on the dribble, or drawing in backup Colorado defenders to open up space at the top of the box. There were several times that he got in behind the Rapid defense and sent crosses in, but his final ball often failed to find a teammate.
Jermaine Jones impressed again in his second appearance for Colorado. He fit well into the number ten role. In a normal set up this might not have worked so well, but with the pace of Gashi and Badji on the wings combined with Pablo Mastroeni’s defensive minded philosophy, Jones performed admirably linking everything together and instilling a calm approach in midfield.
Colorado Rapids
Sounders FC
