The Big Picture
The Colorado Rapids secured three points at home over FC Dallas Saturday night, playing to a 2-1 result at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park. Cole Bassett pressured Dallas’ backline into an own goal before halftime and Calvin Harris was assisted by Kévin Cabral in the second half for the game-winning goal. Petar Musa pulled one back for the visitors late to get on the scoreboard. The victory bumps the Rapids up to No. 3 in the Western Conference following a four-game string of unbeaten results.
Colorado will take to the road for their next two matches, first stopping in Ohio to take on FC Cincinnati on April 27. Kickoff from TQL Stadium is set for 5:30 p.m. MT.
Notable:
- M Cole Bassett surpassed Dillon Serna in tonight’s match for the most appearances (106) by a Homegrown Player in club history.
- D Keegan Rosenberry tied Marcelo Balboa for the fourth-most regular season starts (146) in tonight’s match against FC Dallas.
- D Moise Bombito tied his single-season career high (eight starts) for regular-season starts in MLS during tonight’s match against FC Dallas.
- M Jasper Löffelsend and Lamine Diack made their Colorado Rapids’ home debut in tonight’s game against FC Dallas.
- The Colorado Rapids’ win tonight extended their overall unbeaten streak to four matches (3-0-1).
- The Colorado Rapids have scored in eight of their nine games in the MLS this season.
COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH CHRIS ARMAS
On the match:
Look, I said it last week, winning games is never easy as we saw tonight. We had to suffer a little for the last bit of the game, but the wins feel good for the guys. It validates the work that we're all putting in. We have a really nice group here and I love that they get to reap the rewards of a lot of hard work. So a really, really good win for the team, nice to see the boys creep up in the standings a bit. I love that we can deliver for the fans. You know, I think for a large part of the night we gave the fans something to be proud of. We played some good football for good stretches and suffered to seal the victory. So, a really important win, especially at home, and we'll enjoy it for a day or so and then get back to work.
On the energy of the team after multiple unbeaten results:
The energy in the team, I love it. It gives me energy. We showed the boys a video today of yesterday's training session with a big celebration for a game winning goal. I have not seen this in a long time with the teams I've been part of, like a big pile on, it was just incredible. It's just really good energy in the team and I think that it's infectious. These results aren't accidental, we've earned it, and we’ve put ourselves in the spots to win games and even the draws that we've had we've earned. So yeah, 15 points and we have fought for every single one of them and we'll continue to do it. I told them I'm really proud of them. Again, tonight for me, the first half and the start of the second half, let's call it the first 60 minutes, was really, really good. In possession, out of possession, controlling counter attacks, good structure, creating chances, scoring some goals and not giving up much. Then we had to suffer a little bit but 15 points I think it's a good start to the year.
COLORADO RAPIDS FORWARD CALVIN HARRIS
On the match:
I thought the game today was a hard fought one in tough conditions with it being freezing. I think the gaffer said it as well at the end of the game, speaking to us in the changing room saying that, at times we played some of our best football tonight. I think the combinations up front and throughout the team in general paid off, and we created a lot of chances. It could have been a lot more on the score line for us, but we take the three points and we're happy with the result.
On the team’s offensive efforts:
I’d say the way that Chris wants us to press. He told us at the beginning of the season that we're going to press high, we're going to make it tough for teams, and we’ll be a hard team to play against, and it's showing. He said that us doing the defensive work will lead to scoring goals, and we've seen that in recent games, especially with the amount of goals that we've created and chances. It could be a lot more, so I'd say our pressing up front has been a key factor for us getting more chances and leading to scoring more goals.
On going four games unbeaten:
The emotions are very different, I think that in last year's games even though we were unbeaten in streaks, we were on the edge of quite a few of those games. Now this season, we've been winning those games, and today was an example of that with us getting the second goal and digging deep and not conceding that last goal to equalize the game.
