Rapids Hold On to Beat Real Salt Lake

Rapids Hold On to Beat Real Salt Lake – by Chris Brown

May 7th, 2015 – The second leg of the Rocky Mountain Cup took place as Colorado Rapids welcomed Real Salt Lake into Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

The first leg of the Rocky Mountain Cup was contested at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy Utah on April 9th. The result of the match was a 1-0 win in favor of Real after a goalkeeping error by Zac MacMath gifted Joao Plata an easy goal.

Coming into the match Colorado had a perfect home record for the 2016 MLS season, winning all four of the games played at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park this season.

Marco Pappa is still out for the Rapids but Colorado will be happy to have defender Marc Burch back in the starting eleven. Burch sustained an injury while warming up for a match against Seattle Sounders two weeks ago, but the defender was fit to face Salt Lake on his birthday.
For Real, they are without defender Aaron Maund who suffered an injury during Reals 2-1 win against Houston Dynamo. Up until that point Maund had played every minute of Real’s 2016 campaign. Real Head Coach Jeff Cassar opted to start with Joao Plata on the bench, though it was expected the midfielder would get onto the pitch at some point.
The match began cagy as neither team was willing to lose their defensive shape in order to go forward. Though with fist place in the supporters shied standings on the line, that’s not a surprise.
In the 9th minute Kevin Doyle latched on to a long ball down the left wing. Doyle raced into the box but was contained by Real’s back line and shot weakly over the bar.

Burrito Martinez had success against Mikeil Williams down the left wing throughout the first half, his pressure and skill at running at the defense forced the Rapid defender to see yellow in the 15th minute, and Martinez looked like the most dangerous player on the pitch. The best chance of the first half belonged to Martinez as well. The winger forced a great save from Rapid keeper MacMath after he beat the Colorado defense to send a low curling effort to the far corner of goal.

Salt Lake looked the better of the two teams as the first half wore on. Colorado did well in defense but Real was winning the midfield battle. Sam Cronin and Michael Azira were busy trying to break up the attack and though Real had the upper hand, they failed to capitalize on the openings they created.
Colorado created a few chances as the first half progressed but they came off counter attacks and crosses and never threatened Nick Rimando’s goal. The Rapids felt that they should have had a penalty after Luis Solignac was tackled/hip checked in the box by Martinez, though it would have been harsh to award a penalty.

It didn’t take long into the second half for the Rapids to make their mark on the match. In the 47th minute a lovely through ball found Kevin Doyle on the edge of the area. It looked like Doyle would take a shot at Rimando’s goal but instead of shooting with his weaker foot the veteran cleverly cut the ball back to Jermaine Jones. Jones, who had lots of time to collect himself, lifted his head and picked out his spot before firing into the side netting of the Real goal.

Colorado taking the lead had an immediate effect and the game opened up considerably after that.
In the 58th minute Joao Plata came in to the match and the Real attack started clicking. Kyle Beckerman and Javier Morales started to spread the ball all over the pitch and the width Real played with began to stretch the Rapids out. Once Colorado became stretched Morales began cutting the Rapid defense up and there always seemed to be two open attackers for the visitors.

In the 61st minutes Zac MacMath denied Beckerman after the U.S. Men’s International lashed a vicious shot at the Rapid goal from distance.

Colorado created chances in the second half though Shkelzen Gashi and Jermaine Jones, but only one or two troubled Nick Rimando who was exceptional on the night.
Real was the dominant team after the rapid goal creating two on one situations all over the pitch and finding space in front of the Rapid backline. The crisp attacking play pushed defensive midfielders Sam Cronin and Michael Azira deep, and the space opened up became dangerous ground for Plata to work in.

Dominique Badji came on in the 77th minute in his first action after returning from a knock he sustained a few weeks prior.

Real had a chance from a free kick from the corner of the box in the 81st minute and again MacMath, in by far his best game this season, turned the ball away. Seconds later a point blank shot from Beckerman, all alone at the top of the box, saw MacMath save again.
Real absolutely peppered the Rapid goal during the last 20 minutes. Colorado could barely clear the ball let alone maintain possession of any kind.

Shelzen Gashi and Zac MacMath both received yellow cards for time wasting in the later stages of the match as Colorado was desperate to close out the game. Real looked so threatening that it was better to be booked than to let Salt Lake have the ball.

Colorado played defensively narrow in the later stages of the match giving Real lots of space on the wings.

After three minutes of extra time the final whistle blew and Colorado won the match 1-0. The win means that Colorado stays on top in the Supporter’s Shield standings and the team retains the Rocky Mountain Cup.

After the match it was announced that Sam Cronin was the man of the match, but Zac MacMath played his best match in a Rapid’s jersey and it feels harsh to overlook his efforts. The keeper has been heavily criticized this season and knows that he’s keeping the seat warm for Tim Howard but Real deserved much more for their efforts and it was MacMath who bailed Colorado out time and time again on the evening.

For Real, Burrito Martinez played extremely well and was unlucky to come away from the match without a goal. Kyle Beckerman was also impressive in his usual way, he was consistent, showed more hustle than anyone else on the pitch and popped up in key areas in both attack and defense.
These two teams play each other one more time this season on August 27th at Rio Tinto in Utah. Each team has taken the home fixture and that tie is mouthwatering. It’s a shame we’ll have to wait that long to see it.