The Big Picture
Andre Shinyashiki scored a header in the 73rd minute to lift the Colorado Rapids (10-4-4, 34 points) to a 2-1 win over LA Galaxy (11-6-2, 35 points) on Tuesday night at Dignity Health Sports Park. Jonathan Lewis opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 13th minute, rifling his shot into the roof of the net. Shinyashiki scored his fourth goal of the season when he headed in a deviated ball in the box following Jack Price’s corner delivery. The result marks Colorado’s fourth consecutive win against LA, dating to May 2019, and extends their unbeaten run against the Galaxy to six games. It also pulls the Rapids to within three points of first place in the Western Conference with a game in hand.
Notable Numbers
- Jonathan Lewis scored his second goal of the season on a penalty kick in the 13th minute. It was Lewis’ third goal in four career matches at Dignity Health Sports Park, including his second in two games with Colorado. The 24-year-old made his 20th start since joining the club via trade in May 2019.
- Lewis’ goal was Colorado’s first from a penalty kick since Nicolas Mezquida scored against LA Galaxy in September 2019.
- Andre Shinyashiki scored his fourth goal of the season in the 73rd minute, matching his total from 2020. Shinyashiki’s goal was Colorado’s eighth from a set piece this season (not including penalty kicks).
- The Rapids improve to 12-8-2 (W-L-D) under Robin Fraser. Their 12 wins on the road since Fraser’s first game on Aug. 31, 2019, are the most in MLS since then. Colorado’s 1.73 points per game on the road under Fraser are the most in MLS in that time.
- Mark-Anthony Kaye made his 80th career MLS appearance.
- Colorado is now unbeaten in its last six matches against LA Galaxy, winning five of them and each of the last four. This is Colorado’s 10th all-time win in Carson, Calif., and its 30th against the Galaxy all-time.
Quotes - Robin Fraser
On tonight’s match…
“What a hard-fought win. They’re obviously a very good team and I was really proud of how we—it was tough. It was very tough. I was really proud of how we defended, kept ourselves in the game and really early on created what, in our opinion, should’ve been three penalty kicks, and really gave ourselves some confidence. Even as the game wore on, as I said, they’re a very good team, they’re able to put together a lot of passes, spend a lot of time in our end of the field, but fortunately, we were able to limit their actual goal-scoring chances. I thought in the second half we got a little bit more aggressive and we were able to disrupt them a bit more and certainly in the second half we had some decent possession and it ended up creating a few good chances. In terms of going on the road against one of the best teams in the league and coming out of here with a win, obviously we’re extremely proud. The effort put forth by the team—I keep talking about how proud I am of this team. This is just another example. Really a tremendous effort in tough conditions.”
On whether the result is a ‘statement win’…
“Honestly, we’re just trying to do our thing and to be efficient in how we play and limit teams’ opportunities and create chances. In terms of it being a statement to the rest of the league, I don’t even know if that’s worthwhile commenting on because there are a lot of teams who are good teams, there’s a lot of season left and we just have to keep playing well and doing our thing.”
On what he sees day-in and day-out from the team that makes him proud…
“Whether we play well or play poorly, whether everything goes our way or everything goes against us, they never stop fighting. And I love the fact that we have a group of players who everything I ask them to do—everything we ask them to do—they try to do to the best of their ability, and when the going gets tough, they really just dig in. At the end of the day, sometimes you have to grind. You have to be able to grind to be successful and they’re learning that and gaining an appreciation for that and recognizing what their hard work can bring, and as a result, I’m extremely extremely proud of them. You said what do I see from them every day: I see them work like this every day. They battle each other in trainings and it’s very very physical and it can get ugly at times, but at the end of the day, they know they’re all on the same team and on the weekend we show up and they fight together and I can’t ask for anything more than that.”
Quotes - Jack Price
On the match…
“I thought in the first half we found it tough. We had to hang in there at times, especially the end of the first half. But we started well, we got the penalty. We feel could’ve had a couple more maybe. I haven’t seen them back yet, but we certainly feel we could’ve had at least one more penalty. But it was a good start, and then like I said, we hung in there. And then second half, I thought we were brilliant. Really proud of the boys, the shift we put in, the chances we created. Obviously we got the second goal off another set piece, which is nice. Really proud of the boys and a huge statement tonight and we’re going to kick on from here.”
On Jonathan Lewis’ starting the match and his performance…
“He’s a threat going forward and we knew we could use his pace in behind and obviously we got the penalty with Johnny in behind. And again, I’ll say it again, we felt like we could’ve had a couple more with Johnny. He took the penalty really well… He shows a bit of character stepping up and taking a penalty for us and taking us one-nil up and it was a great start. If he can play like that every week, he’s got no problem fitting into this team. He’s an absolute danger when he gets forward, and again, he scores another goal. He scores goals so he’s a livewire, he’s a threat and we’re happy to have him.”
