Rapids Comeback to Beat Columbus

Rapids Comeback to Beat Columbus by Chris Brown

Colorado Rapids welcomed Columbus Crew into Dick’s Sporting Goods Park for a clash between the 5th place team in the Eastern Conference vs the last place team in the West.

Zac MacMath started in place of Captain Tim Howard on the evening as Howard is away with the U.S. Men’s National Team as they prepare for World Cup qualifiers against Trinidad and Tobago and Mexico and Center Back Bobby Burling was suspended for the match.

Pablo Mastroeni had to go with a smaller center back pairing than he usually plays as Axel Sjoberg and Jared Watts are both out injured and Burling is suspended. Mike Da Fonte and Kortne Ford started as Colorado’s center backs but faced a stiff test against Federico Higuain, Ola Kamara and Justin Meram.

From the outset the match was bogged down in midfield with neither side taking control of the action. Sloppy passing from both teams dampened the attacking play and Referee Ismail Elfath was quick to whistle anything looking like a foul, keeping either team from finding a grove early on in the match.

In the 24th minute Columbus had a penalty call turned down when Eric Miller pushed Ola Kamara down in the box. The forward went down easily but Miller pushed him at a full extension and the call could have easily been made.

Dominique Badji had Colorado’s first real chance of the match in the 30th minute when the forward brought down a long ball cleverly, allowing two Columbus defenders to drift past him at the top of the 18 yard box, and tried to curl a shot past Zack Steffen to the top right corner. Steffan read the shot well and Badji’s shot ended up being too safe toward the center of goal and Steffen saved the shot easily.

Just minutes later the Rapids had an even better chance when Shkelzen Gashi found space at the top of the top of the box and received a pass from Dominique Badji. Gashi tried to beat Steffen with a hard shot to the bottom left side of Zack Steffen’s goal but the keeper did well to get low and keep the shot out, though he was unable to push the ball out of bounds. The rebound came straight out and Gashi, following his attempt, was able to get on the ball again and attempt a second shot from close range, but Steffan was on hand to smother the shot and keep the match level at zeroes.

At halftime the score remained level at 0-0.

At the beginning of the second half Kevin Doyle received a yellow card after keeper Steffen’s dropped like a rock when Doyle ran past him. Replays showed that Doyle never touched the keeper, who stayed on the ground for several minutes afterward.

Columbus had their first chance of the match in the 53rd minute when Justin Meram rose to meet a cross from Mohammed Abu but nodded it hard just over the bar.

In the 61st minute Columbus took the lead when Gonzalo Higuain took the ball just outside the 18 yard box and fired on goal. The shot took a heavy deflection off Michael Azira and Zac MacMath was caught wrong footed, allowing the deflected shot to easily find it’s way to the back of the net.

In the 66th minute Colorado came as close as the side netting to scoring when Shkelzen Gashi lashed a free kick from outside Columbus’ box through the Crew wall. The shot beat the keeper but just missed the goal, slamming into the right side netting.

Colorado fans erupted, thinking Gashi had scored and even the fireworks crew launched celebratory rockets, only to discover that it wasn’t a goal and Colorado were still down a goal to zero.

Pablo Mastroeni tried to mix things up by bringing Josh Gatt on for Dillon Powers in the 67th minute, hoping that an extra attacking player would lead to a Rapids equalizer.

The play in the second half swung in the Crew’s favor and Colorado struggled to find possession. The normal narrative in Colorado is that the altitude begins to effect the road team in the second half allowing Colorado to take control of the match, but Columbus seemed to grow into the second half and the Rapids found themselves under heavy pressure from the yellow and black.

In the 80th minute Colorado found a way to peg Columbus back against the run of play. The move started with a lovely one-two pass between Shkelzen Gashi and Mohammed Saeid that allowed Saeid acres of space in the Columbus half. As Crew defenders looked to close Saeid down the midfielder played a perfectly weighted through ball to Marlon Hairston who latched onto the ball in the Crew box. Hairston squared the ball to Kevin Doyle at the 6 yard line and Doyle slid to get a foot on the cross, pushing the ball home to level the match at one goal a piece.

Columbus pushed hard for a winner in the final ten minutes, even forcing Zac MacMath to make a huge save in the 85th minute, but Colorado also looked to go ahead, doing so in dramatic fashion in the 87th minute.

Zac MacMath saw Josh Gatt streaking down the left wing and the keeper distributed the ball perfectly with a long punt that found Gatt in stride. Gatt moved down the left wing and following a few step-overs, crossed the ball into the box toward Alan Gordon. Gordon rose and headed the ball back across Zack Steffen’s goal and the shot bounced off the left goal post before nestling in the back of the net to give Colorado a 2-1 lead with three minutes left in the match.

After three tense minutes of extra time the referee blew the whistle to loud cheers from the crowd at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. The win put Colorado on 13 points with two more home games before the Rapids go on the road again, a positive result for a side that desperately needed it.