The Colorado Rapids (3-2-3) extended their unbeaten streak to three games Saturday night against the San Jose Earthquakes (1-7-0) at PayPal Park with a dominant 3-0 victory over a side struggling to find any sort of momentum.
Rafael Navarro took initiative early by drawing a penalty on his former teammate, San Jose keeper William Yarbrough, and proceeded to bury the try in the 10th minute.
In the 60th minute, Navarro struck again by scoring his first goal from the run of play for the first brace of his career in Colorado. On a funky play where the ball bounced around until it found a wandering Navarro from point blank range, the assist was credited to Cole Bassett.
Navarro repaid the favor to Bassett by providing him an assist in the 80th minute. Bassett took the pass from the top of the box and calmly placed the ball into the bottom left corner with his left foot for his second goal in two games.
Here are three thoughts from a great result for the Burgundy Boys:
Brazilian Brace
Navarro has been excellent from the spot this season, scoring on all three of his attempts, but he had yet to score on a non-penalty this year until Saturday.
For the circumstances of the goal, he was largely just in the right place at the right time, but it was clear from the team’s celebration what it meant to Navarro and the team for him to find this kind of form on this kind of night.
“We’ve said all along (Navarro) can score goals. We know this because we see it in training all the time,” Rapids coach Chris Armas said. “We think we can get him in better spots that he can score. … But the fact he now has a couple on the night and a bunch now accumulating this season, I think it will only help him.”
Rapids match 2023 away win total
The Rapids were bad at home in 2023, but they were absolutely abysmal on the road with just two wins away from Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
But now, just eight games into 2024, any weight of matching that figure has already been lifted. In fact, the Rapids now have a positive record on the road this season (2-1-1).
Armas doesn’t want to put too much stress into whether matches are home or away. Instead, he just wants to see intensity and drive no matter where the game is being played. That said, he certainly won’t lose much sleep over the way his team has played on the road so far.
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“We say we’re home on any pitch, … so any time we step on the pitch, we can meet the demands of games,” Armas said. “We understand that on the road, sometimes it can be tough and you have to suffer and stick together. I like that our team is fearless. At home, we’re aggressive; on the road, we’re aggressive.”
Steffen’s clean sheet
While he was the first to attribute the Rapids’ shutout to his teammates, Zack Steffen faced 22 shots (six on goal) and made five terrific saves. San Jose recorded 2.2 expected goals on the night, yet didn’t come away with a single goal.
The clean sheet was the former MLS Goalkeeper of the Year’s first this season and first with the club.
“It’s really nice to get a clean sheet but it’s not just my clean sheet. It’s definitely a collective effort,” Steffen said. “(The back line was) terrific tonight. Going forward, it gives us confidence. We were under pressure, we put out a lot of fires and the box defending was really good and very tight.”
The team will return to DSGP on Saturday, April 20, to play Dallas FC. It will be the Rapids’ first match at home since they came back on LAFC to win 3-2 March 30.
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