Rapids Crush the Quakes to End Their Skid by Chris Brown
Last place Colorado Rapids welcomed Western Conference rivals San Jose Earthquakes to Dick’s Sporting Goods park on a picturesque Colorado afternoon.
Shkelzen Gashi scored twice to give Colorado their first win since opening day. (Photo Credit: John A. Babiak)
San Jose came into the match enjoying a fine spell of form that’s seen the black and blues win their last two matches including an impressive 3-0 over Western Conference high-flyers Portland Timbers last weekend.
Colorado has been glued to the bottom of the Western Conference table and after Philadelphia won last weekend the Rapids came into the match at the bottom of the Supporter’s Shield standings as well. After suffering five straight defeats Colorado was be looking to end their skid before going on the road again next weekend.
Colorado’s offense has struggled all season long scoring 5 goals in 8 games and Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni looked to shake things up by debuting a new formation. The Rapids normally play in a 4-5-1 formation with two holding midfielders and a lone target man up front but against San Jose the Rapids came out in a 4-4-2 with Alan Gordon and Dominique Badji playing as forwards, Kevin Doyle surprisingly started on the bench.
Colorado came out playing with more aggression than they normally do, pushing greater numbers up the pitch and committing to the attack.
Shkelzen Gashi normally starts on the left wing but started the match on the right side while Mohammed Saied started on the right wing. Five minutes into the match the two players switched sides and it appeared that Shkelzen Gashi would have the freedom to roam around the park in hopes of sparking the Rapid attack.
In the eleventh minute Colorado should have taken the lead. Mohammed Saeid cut a cross back to the top of the box to Marlon Hairston to shot on goal. David Bingham got a diving hand to the ball but it landed at the feet of Alan Gordon at the far post. Gordon had an easy tap in but saw his shot go just wide of goal from three feet out. The veteran striker punched the ground in frustration knowing the Rapids should have gone ahead.
Marlon Hairston was crucial for both the Rapid attack and defense playing from the right back position. (Photo Credit: John A. Babiak)
Marlon Hairston started at right back and was excellent joining the attack, coming all the way forward to force the save from Bingham, but tracking back to defend and support Gashi from the right flank.
In the 29th minute Colorado found the breakthrough they were looking for when Mohammed Saeid sent in a low hard cross in from the left wing across David Bingham’s six yard box and picked out Shkelzen Gashi, who poked the ball home to open the scoring. The goal is only Gashi’s second ever goal in Dick’s Sporting Goods Park and Colorado’s first goal since April 15th.
After the goal Colorado continued to look dangerous from the wings and Saeid especially became a problem for Cordell Cato to contain.
In the 35th minute Colorado struck again. Following a turnover created by Alan Gordon and Dominique Badji Colorado surged forward with Gordon and Badji, the later with the ball at his feet against just Florian Jungwirth in defense for the Quakes. Jungwirth held his ground between the two attackers looking to defend against a pass to Gordon, but when Badji made it to the 18 yard box the striker fired to the bottom left corner of the San Jose goal beating David Bingham and giving Colorado a two goal lead.
At the end of the first half Colorado lead 2-0 over the Quakes with the Rapid attacking playing their best soccer of the 2017 season.
Colorado’s defense was also excellent in the opening 45 minutes keeping Chris Wondolowski to just 12 touches in the opening half and allowing only one shot on target.
Colorado started the second half brightly creating a chance from a corner kick in the 48th minute. Bobby Burling rose to meet Mohammed Saeid’s cross at the far post but nodded the ball just wide right of the San Jose goal.
The Rapids broke the match wide open in the 57th minute when Badji beat two defenders to a 50-50 ball, falling down in the process of shielding the ball from a Earthquake defender. From the ground Badji had the awareness to sweep at the ball from a seated position to Shkelzen Gashi who was wide open at the top of the box. The Albanian International had just the keeper to beat and did so by driving a left footed shot hard to the top right corner of David Bingham’s goal to put the Rapids up 3-0.
Rapids Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni celebrates after Shkelzen Gashi scores his second of the match. (Photo Credit: John A Babiak)
San Jose tried to get back into the match just minutes later after some sharp passing put Anibal Godoy clean through against Tim Howard. Howard charged off his line, making himself big and Godoy’s shot cannoned off Howard’s legs and out of the box.
Jahmir Hyka began to have success conducting the attack from midfield, using his pace and quick dribble to round defenders and create passing lanes for San Jose. The Earthquakes number ten looked a frustrated figure as more than once he beat a Rapid defender and turned to look for a teammate only to find no outlet and not enough bodies to support the attack.
After the third goal Colorado sat deeper and shut the game down. Subs came of for Saeid, Gordon and Badji but the Rapids were content with the three goals and looked to keep a clean sheet.
At the final whistle Colorado finally had a reason to celebrate as they stopped their 5 match skid in style, winning 3-0.
After the match Pablo Mastroeni said the match was “the most professional performance I’ve been a part of as head coach,” and went on to talk about some of the stand out players in the match.
After last weeks 1-0 loss to Vancouver Mastroeni said it was the most complete performance he’d seen from Shkelzen Gashi but against San Jose “he one upped it,” and “you see a guy you can count on week in and week out.”
About Marlon Hairston, who started at right back for the first time since opening day of the 2016 MLS season, Pablo said “I think Marlon could be one of the best right backs in this country.” “I think him coming in from behind, the element of surprise, coupled with speed, presents a very deadly combination for our attack.”
Tim Howard was also pleased following the victory and talked about his team’s attitude on the pitch saying that Colorado got back to “enjoying defending. I feel like a lot of teams around the world actually do. You watch the Champion’s League and Juventus is in the final. They enjoy defending. So I think we’re getting to that stage, that’s certainly where we were last year.”
