The game’s only big chance was the difference. And for the fifth time in as many tries, the Colorado Rapids are out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup without advancing.
This time around, LAFC’s 1-0 win over Colorado at BMO Stadium on Tuesday night was enough to escape with a 2-all scoreline on aggregate. LAFC’s away goal last week was the tiebreaker.
Some bad trends from 2024 are waning while others burst into the foreground.
Here are three takeaways from a not-so-Hollywood ending in L.A.:
Off-target, on repeat
In stark contrast to what the roster is built to accomplish, the Rapids failed to notch a shot on target for the second straight match.
Forward Rafael Navarro, whose press suffocated LAFC for the first 20 minutes, got two takeaways and subsequent chances. On one, he picked Timothy Tillman’s pocket before uncorking a shot from distance wide to the left.
The other, in the 19th minute, ended with a stumbly shot just wide. Appeals for a penalty came to no avail after contact to Navarro’s foot tripped him up enough to alter the shot. It was the best chance the Rapids had all night.
“(LAFC is) hard to break down,” Rapids coach Chris Armas said. “They take away a lot of spaces, make it hard to get off crosses and 1-v-1 situations. We’re trying everything at that point and maybe we could have tried more things to force the coincidence: more crosses, be a little more proactive. For me, it was a little bit too slow, too many back passes.”
LAFC took advantage of its only big chance of the game. It rattled off four shots on target, which is low for LAFC at home, but found the back of the net in the 49th minute. David Martinez got a step on Keegan Rosenberry down the right wing, played an inch-perfect ball into the 6-yard box and found Marco Delgado for a tap-in under Rapids keeper Zack Steffen’s legs.
The Rapids won’t get another crack at LAFC at BMO until May, and that matchup will mark nearly four years since Colorado last scored at the venue.
Tactical fouls a temporary fix
The Rapids’ gambit on Tuesday night was to foul.
Colorado used several shirt tugs and hip grabs in the midfield third, particularly after turning the ball over, to stymie LAFC’s attack before it even started.
Deeper into the first half, frustration mounted for LAFC as it forced long balls to nowhere, made unforced errors and rushed passing sequences. The occasional half-chance ended in a heavy through ball or off-target pass before it could become a full chance. That’s when LAFC heads hung lowest.
Then the yellow cards flew. Josh Atencio entered the book first just before halftime for a tug on Martinez before he could break into an attack. In a 12-minute stretch in the second half after LAFC’s goal, four more Rapids were shown a caution.
“As a coach, I don’t panic in those moments, … just little reminders at halftime to be smart, no silly yellow cards, but our players have to manage those behaviors once they’re on a yellow card,” Armas said. “The plan was to come here and be an aggressive team. The best teams in the world have savviness and they foul in the right moments. We’re learning how to break up attacks with counter-pressing and with good structure, but also fouling.”
After Rosenberry got the Rapids’ fifth yellow card of the night in the 72nd minute, LAFC found a quick attack on a giveaway that resulted in a goal two minutes later, but it was called offside.
A chance to reset
While failing to log a single shot on goal is not reassuring, Armas was encouraged by evident progress playing at LAFC (a one-goal loss is much better than a three- or four-goal loss).
And for good reason. The Rapids are slowly figuring out how to deal with one of the most diverse and deadly attacks in Major League Soccer, whether through controlled chaos or being stingy from the back. The next step is discovering a stubborn edge to their offense to break through one of the league’s most consistent defenses.
“I watch LAFC a lot, I know how these games look, I’ve coached a bunch of times against them. This is by far the best we’ve ever matched up with them,” Armas said. “We had good stretches tonight, we were in control. And then sometimes, in moments of transition, when we win the ball, it’s the weight of the pass, finding the next guy and, ‘Can you secure it?’ And maybe this leads to more moments in the attack.”
Armas and his Rapids want to go after every available trophy, but bowing out of CCC early means they don’t have to worry about rotating a squad that doesn’t offer much chance for rotation, given their numerous injuries.
From now until May 14, Colorado will only play one match per week. That gives the injured plenty of time to recover while healthy players aren’t running up their odometers.
As for the attack, Saturday’s MLS home opener against FC Dallas is a great chance to find some footing. Dallas made one of the league’s biggest offseason moves in bringing former MLS MVP Luciano Acosta, but at the expense of defensive depth and quality.
In many ways, Dallas could be the 2025 version of last year’s Rapids — score a lot, concede a lot. This year’s Rapids will want to kickstart the latter trend. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
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