The Big Picture Â
The Colorado Rapids (3-10-9, 18 pts) and Portland Timbers (5-9-8, 23 pts) played out a scoreless draw in the resumption of their postponed match from July 4th. Both sides contested just a single, 45-minute half after the Independence Day matchup was postponed at halftime due to inclement weather.
Notable:
- GK William Yarbrough recorded his 100th appearance as a member of the Rapids, tying Tim Howard for third-most starts and appearances by a goalkeeper in club history.
- D Danny Wilson recorded his 119th start as a member of the Rapids, tying Paul Bravo for eight-most starts in club history.Â
- Tonight’s result extends the Rapids’ home record against the Timbers to 8W-2L-5D across their last 15 matches.
Select postgame quotes transcribed below.
COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH ROBIN FRASER
On the match:
“I think the game was a reflection of the oddity of the event. I think that's probably all I really have to say about it. It was just a weird feeling, and as much as we tried to really get ourselves ready to come out and be explosive for 45 minutes, at the end of the day, the oddity of the event was the winner of the day. I didn't think we were as clinical and precise as we have been. We got ourselves in some good spots, had a couple of decent moments, but then we opened up ourselves a bit too much in counter attack, as well.”
On earning a point with the result:
“I mean, you're always happy to get a point rather than nothing, but disappointed in that even when we played the first half, eight days ago, I didn't think we were great, but we had much more rhythm. And tonight, yeah, it didn't feel like we had a lot of rhythm tonight. Plays, we didn't link a lot of plays together, which would then lead to the types of chances we would have wanted. We certainly had a few good moments, but the short answer is, yes, happy to at least get a point, but disappointed because we feel like if they have to fly back here and play 45 minutes and we have an advantage, and it's just disappointing not to get three points.”
COLORADO RAPIDS DEFENDER KEEGAN ROSENBERRY
On the match:
“I think the general sentiment in the locker room just is disappointment. I think even when the game started, whatever it was a week ago, you know, we look at a matchup against Portland at home as a game that we need to have control of from the beginning. We did put two good halves together where we generate quite a few chances, but the nature of tonight was kind of odd. Just the feeling of kind of showing up at a different start time, you know, different amount of time for the entire game, not feeling like one of the bigger advantages here in letting teams kind of were down, and then by that 60th minute mark being very fatigued. But yeah, I think just similar to some of the things that we've been continuing to try to improve on throughout the season is just a little bit sharper in the final action, a little more precise in the final ball, a little bit better cohesion in the final third. I think those things popped up again tonight, and like I said, disappointing not to try and kind of what feels like stealing three points in only half a game, but it is what it is.”
On whether the quick turnaround will affect Saturday’s match against Houston:
“I don't think it changes much. I think, like I said, it was a little bit of—it kind of felt like a training exercise to me today to try to break [Portland] down in a quick 45 minutes. And because of that, I think we can be a little bit fresher than we would be with a full game today going into Saturday. So, after this past Saturday, we talked about this week getting nine points. Obviously, we didn't get that tonight, another three, but that's our focus. Doesn't help to dwell on tonight at all. We'll talk about it. We'll learn from it. We'll watch some stuff tomorrow, but I think a lot of guys are already thinking about Houston and how can we break that down. How can we continue to be dangerous, to generate chances, to limit their chances as well. So, I think we're moving on to Saturday pretty quickly, and we're looking forward to another chance to, you know, give our supporters what they deserve here.”
