Led by another finish from Jermaine Jones, the Colorado Rapids earned their third win in as many games by toppling a fellow Western Conference contender.
Goals from Jermaine Jones, Luis Solignac and Kevin Doyle proved enough to overcome a second-half finish from Jordan Morris, as the Rapids earned a 3-1 win over the Seattle Sounders on Saturday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
Jones netted his second goal in as many games in the 20th minute to give the Rapids the early advantage. The U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder, who proved dangerous on set pieces throughout, broke loose in the box on a Shkelzen Gashi cross. Jones steered his header past a helpless Stefan Frei, giving the Rapids the 1-0 advantage.
Solignac doubled that advantage with a tap-in just six minutes into the second half on a cross from Dominique Badji. The two-goal lead was short-lived, though, as Morris brought the Sounders back 12 minutes later.
As Cristian Roldan’s cross skipped across the box, Morris found himself on the ball just outside the box. The Stanford product took a touch out wide before directing a shot towards the far post, slipping his effort Zac MacMath to pull the Sounders within a goal.
Playing without Clint Dempsey, the Sounders had plenty of life in the aftermath of Morris’ goal, but the Rapids had an opportunity to pull further ahead on a penalty kick. Gashi’s shot was stonewalled by Frei to keep the lead at one, but it would prove no matter, as Doyle fired home the much-needed insurance goal in the 86th minute to seal three point for the hosts.
The Rapids will look to make it four straight next Saturday with a visit to the Montreal Impact, while the Sounders return that same day for a clash with the Columbus Crew at CenturyLink Field.
Man of the Match
For the second straight game, Jermaine Jones proved plenty active on both the attacking and defensive ends. In addition to his goal, Jones provided a trio of key passes while helping plug the midfield alongside Sam Cronin and Michael Azira.
Moment of the Match
Prior to Kevin Doyle’s late-game finish, the Sounders looked like a team that could surely find an equalizer. The Irishman’s goal was as controversial as it was decisive, as the Rapids’ forward appeared offside on what proved to be the final blow needed to seal victory.
Match to Forget
Brad Evans was bested by Jermaine Jones on a pair of first-half set pieces, and the Sounders defender was made to pay as Jones headed home in the 20th minute. Following Kevin Doyle’s game-clincher, Evans was sent off for arguing with the referee, providing a sour ending to what was already a poor performance.
Rapids are not the best team in MLS. Glad to see fans like Bull excited, been a while.
Sounders are not this bad. Sigi has to be under pressure. Many would love to have his lineup.
Maybe it is the pain of playing younger players, I don’t think so, but maybe.
Class goal from Morris. Slid it on the ground at a good pace, at a tough-ish angle, 16 yards from target with a man on him. Happy to see him scoring again alongside P-Sick.
Like any other sane MLS fan, I’m surprised by this really promising start from the Rapids.
The momentum and self-beilef is palpable. God, I hope this continues.
I was one of the people at the beginning of the year that was more negative than positive about bringing Pablo back as manager. I forgot the man’s a slow burn epitomized.
Agreed it was a quality finish. My one worry, many people have already voiced this, is his refusal to use his left foot. Once defenders start forcing him left in those situations he won’t be able to create the space to get that shot off.
Having said that, he does have a pretty dirty outside the right foot shot. push him left, and he can unleash it. Still though, I hope he develops into a more two footed player.
Totally agree. I’m among the people who have voiced that concern. However, I failed to give him props like you just did, in regards to his outside right foot. It is nasty, but he for sure needs to work on getting his left into the action.
Good thing for Colorado that New England has horrible ownership and management.
Arsenal, St. Louis(now L.A.) Rams, Colorado Rapids, and Colorado Avalanche fans would disagree. We’ll trade you Stan Kroenke for a six pack of Busch Lite.
Busch Lite
Health conscious and classy.
Don’t look now, but the Rapids have the second most points in the leauge and they’re far from being 100 percent. We’re still missing Tim Howard. Pappa is out.
All the experts that picked that Rapids last can now have a spoonful of crow as they start to realize that the Rapids might be the best team in MLS.
The Rapids have depth. They have defense. They have a creative attack. This year it looks like we have coaching. Soon we’ll have the best goalkeeper in MLS.
Watch out. The Rapids are for real this year.
Whoa there, Nelly!
I like the Rapids and like to see this streak of success returning to them. But it’s quite a long season and an awful lot can happen, still. I don’t think it is clear yet whether the Rapids are for real or not, in terms of this whole season, and it certainly remains to be seen whether they might be the best team in all of MLS.
Great start, though!
Yeah. All they’ve done is get the second best points total in the league, while missing Tim Howard, Jermaine Jones for six games, Doyle for a big part of the season, and Pappa for the last two games. That’s three of Colorado’s designated players and none of the three have played more than a couple of games.
Colorado made some smart moves in the off-season. They hired an offensive coach to help Pablo with an area he struggles with. They now average 2 goals a game. They revamped the spine of the team. Now it has Gashi and Doyle up top, Jermaine Jones in support, a defense that hasn’t given up more than one goal in any game this season, and Tim Howard on the way.
Colorado hasn’t had close to a full squad all year and they’ve still got more points than anyone not named Dallas.
Yes, the season is early, but Colorado beat SKC on the road without Howard, Jones, Doyle….They’ve moved to the top of the table without their best players. That speaks to their depth. Tonight Castillo joined at right back and looked great.
We’ll see, but the best teams in MLS aren’t in the Cascadia region this year. They’re in the Rockies or Dallas.
The season is young. We haven’t seen the best the Rockies have to offer. They haven’t played with their full squad yet. How good will they be when Howard is in net in behind that defense, with Jones, Pappa, Gashi, and Doyle on the field at the same time?
Colorado is for real. Get used to it.
Yes, well, I said…
Don’t get too excited. The Galaxy are starting to put it all together.
Don’t get too excited. The Galaxy are starting to put it all together.
I’m sure the Portland Timbers and Darlington Nagbe appreciate they started with putting Nagbe’s leg back together after de Jong aggressively attempted to disassemble it.