The Colorado Rapids (6-6-4, 22 pts.) fell on the road, 3-1, to Houston Dynamo FC (6-6-3, 21 pts.) at Shell Energy Stadium on Wednesday night. Djordje Mihailovic found the back of the net off a penalty kick rebound in the second half, but contributions from Amine Bassi, Latif Blessing, and Sebastian Kowalczyk earned the home side the victory.
Set for their second of three matches in an eight-day span, Colorado was eager to bounce back from a 1-0 loss against Houston earlier this season. With the Starting XI seeing a slight shake-up from the previous match, Jasper Löffelsend, Sebastian Anderson, and Connor Ronan all looked to give the Rapids some much-needed energy during this stretch of matches.
To start, both sides traded chances early in an attempt to open the match’s scoring. Multiple opportunities from Rafael Navarro and Kévin Cabral showed the Rapids’ capabilities in the attacking end, but the Dynamo would end up striking first in the 40th minute.
After confusion on the right wing, Houston defender Griffin Dorsey played in a cross around the edge of the six-yard box to Bassi, who found the back of the net with one touch to put his side up one.
Colorado had multiple chances to level things up before the halftime whistle, but the equalizer would have to wait until the 49th minute.
The Rapids earned their best chance of the match following a penalty kick drawn by Cabral after the striker made a quick touch around the goalkeeper. Navarro took a powerful shot that would be saved by Houston’s Tarbell, but Mihailovic was there to scoop up the rebound and bring Colorado level.
The goal marked the third consecutive match with a goal contribution for the midfielder. He has now recorded 10 in his last 10 appearances.
Houston would strike back in the later stages of the match, with Blessing firing in a shot from outside the box in the 70th minute to regain the lead.
The Dynamo doubled their lead in the 80th minute in similar fashion, this time on a long-range shot from Kowalczyk.
From there, Colorado continued its pressure in the final third but was unable to spark a comeback in the match's late stages.
Colorado faces another road test this weekend as they take on Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BC Place on Saturday, June 1. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. MT.
