By Jess Houwen // @jesshuh15
Real Salt Lake vs. Colorado
FT: 2 – 0
MLS is back, but the Colorado Rapids seem to have missed the memo last night in the first match against long time rivals, Real Salt Lake.
RSL took the lead in the 27th minute thanks to a goal by Albert Rusnak that snuck straight between the legs of Drew Moor as he attempted to rectify keeper Clint Irwin’s failed save. The rest of the half saw yellows on both RSL and the Rapids, but ended 1-0.
The second half started like the first ended– yellow cards on both teams, most notably was the yellow card on Irwin after he took down an RSL player in the box. However, he saved both the resulting penalty kick and its rebound attempt.
RSL soon went up 2-0 with their second goal coming from Damir Kreilach in the 76th minute. Rapids’ recent turncoat, Zach MacMath, went relatively unchallenged in this game as the Burgundy Boys did not show a real desire to win the game. In their first loss of the season, the Rapids did nothing with a higher possession percentage (53.3% to RSL’s 46.7%) and four shots on target. Head coach Robin Fraser said in his post game interview that, “I know how we can play and it looked like four months of not playing.”
Rapids are currently at the bottom of the group with a -2 goal differential. Their next chance to move up comes Friday night against a Melia-less Sporting KC, while RSL will face fellow Group D victors, Minnesota United FC.
Featured image: MLS (Matthew Stith)
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