The Big Picture
The Colorado Rapids (8-4-4, 28 points) earned their eighth clean sheet of the season—tied for the league lead—in a 0-0 draw against first-place Sporting Kansas City (10-4-4, 34 points) on Saturday at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park. Midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye played 90 minutes in his Rapids debut, helping the club extend its unbeaten run at home to eight games.
Notable:
- Mark-Anthony Kaye made his Rapids debut. Kaye started and played 90 minutes, taking one shot on goal and setting up several strong looks at goal.
- Colorado extends its unbeaten streak to eight games against Sporting KC at DSGP. The teams have drawn their last five meetings in Colorado, with the Rapids victorious the three encounters prior to that.
- The Rapids posted their eighth clean sheet of the season, tied for the most in MLS (Nashville).
- Colorado extends its home unbeaten streak to eight games. The Rapids are 5-0-3 at DGSP since May 8.
- Braian Galván made his second consecutive start and his fourth of the season. The 20-year-old Argentine lined up at wingback and played his first complete 90-minute performance since joining the club in July 2020.
- The Rapids’ home scoring streak ends at 32 consecutive matches. Colorado had scored in every MLS match at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park since Oct. 28, 2018, tied for the fifth-longest streak in league history (Miami Fusion scored in 32 straight games from April 4, 1998 to March 26, 2000).
- Collen Warner made the 220th appearance and 160th start of his MLS career. The Denver native made his third consecutive start, taking one shot in 67 minutes.
- Jonathan Lewis made his first appearance since returning from international duty with the U.S. Men’s National Team, where he helped the U.S. win the Concacaf Gold Cup.
QUOTES - ROBIN FRASER
On the team’s performance:
“Our pressure got a little bit better in the second half when we were able to really wrestle control of the game. We felt like we created enough chances to win. Obviously we feel a little disappointed that we didn’t get more out of the game, especially on a night when a team that good is resting that many players. We certainly wanted to get more out of the game, but credit to them, they were very tough and resolute in how they played and certainly made things difficult for us. Really proud of how we grew into the game and were able to create a number of really dangerous chances on the night. Tim [Melia] is a hell of a goalkeeper. I’ve been watching him do that for—I don’t know, probably 12 years now at least—and he’s certainly made a huge, huge difference for them tonight. But like I said, overall, really proud of how we grew into the game and how we were able to wrestle control and create a number of chances.”
On Braian Galván’s play on the night:
“Little by little, as he got healthy, we started thinking about him potentially as a wingback in a back five. He really is an attacking player with a very good eye for a final pass, but we’ve asked him to do something different and it’s something that the team needs and we’ve watched him over the last probably six weeks get more and more familiar with the position in training. Had a few opportunities to play a few minutes early on as he was getting healthy and certainly last week was his first start as a wingback and did quite well at Austin and created some dangerous opportunities. So then created another opportunity for himself tonight and once again I thought he did quite well. For someone who it’s not necessarily his most natural position, he’s really adapted well and has gotten better. He’s better at the end of this game than he was at the beginning of Austin, so he’s just one who can learn and grow. He has a very good soccer mind and once he understands the position, or once he has come to understand the position, he’s just gotten better and better at it.”
QUOTES - MARK-ANTHONY KAYE
On making his Rapids debut:
“Obviously on a positive note, it’s good to get my debut with the club, play 90 minutes. I think for the most part we controlled the game and what we wanted to do. We created a lot of opportunities to score. It’s unfortunate the ball didn’t go in the back of the net tonight but there are some positives to take from this in that we pushed the tempo of the game and put it on our terms. We obviously look forward to the next game but I’m very happy with how the team played tonight. Unfortunate not to win.”
On playing in midfield with Cole Bassett, Collen Warner and Jack Price:
“I think I worked my way into the game. Obviously learning a new system takes time so I was just trying to go with the flow of it and kind of go off of the other midfielders. I think once I started to move inside, I found some good pockets to get turned and play some balls forward. We have quality players and when everyone is in the right position it makes it easy for the guy on the ball. I think as the game progressed you start to see the fluidity much better even when we rotated into different positions. It’s good stuff and like I said, I look forward to continuing to build on the rest of the season with the team.”
