Colorado Rapids v LA Galaxy (1-3) Undermanned LA Score Huge Road Win

The 4^th place and defending MLS Cup Champion Colorado Rapids (5-3-7) entered their showdown with the 1^st place LA Galaxy (8-2-7) leading the MLS in goals scored while only conceding 14. That + 8 goal differential was good enough for 3^rd in the league. They ran into a Galaxy squad that was without starting Jamaican national team goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts and USA star Landon Donovan, as they were set to duel Saturday afternoon at RFK Stadium in D.C in the Gold Cup Quarterfinals. David Beckham was also absent, as he did not make the trip to the mile high city due to a back injury.

     This looked like a match that coach Gary Smith and Colorado would look to try and steal three points at home from the short-handed Galaxy, while coach Bruce Arena and the Galaxy would be happy to sit back and defend and walk away with one point considering their circumstances.

Colorado’s Strategy

Coach Gary Smith employed a straight 4-4-2 with two big, physical strikers up top in USA International Connor Casey and Caleb Folan. Nyassi and Thompson played out wide on the right and left respectively and looked to put service into Casey and Folan, who played with their back to goal for much of the game. Larentowicz and Mastroeni played in the center midfield just in front of the back four. They both got up the field significantly in support of their two strikers as well as the two wingers. Youngster Danny Earls got his first career MLS start and played left back and looked to overlap with Thompson on the left wing to supply service. However, he stayed fairly deep as compared to right back Kimura, who advanced significantly up the field and provided plenty of service into the box. His positioning so far up the field came back to haunt him quite a few times, especially in the second half. Center backs Moor and Marshall looked to distribute the ball long to Casey and Folan from the back line.

LA’s Strategy

     Bruce Arena stayed fairly defensive employing a 4-1-2-1-2. De La Garza and Gonzalez paired in the center of defense with Dunivant at left back and Franklin at right back. Dunivant was able to get forward on numerous occasions, and Franklin struggled to make an impact on the game. Juninho was playing a center defensive midfield role sitting just in front of the two center backs and stayed very defensive throughout, and he supplied some service to the LA wings. Magee played on the left flank and Birchall on the right, and both looked to cut in and supply service to Lopez and Angel, who paired up top for LA. Stephens was playing in the center of midfield just behind the two strikers and in front of Juninho. He was not able to provide any threatening distribution to either of the two strikers or wide players.

1^st Half:

     The first half was a well played and fairly even half with Colorado having a solid chunk of the possession yet still unable to create any dangerous attacks resulting in true scoring opportunities. Casey played with his back to goal but struggled to hold up the ball and keep possession for Colorado. Gonzalez was matched up with Casey one on one and got the better of their match up all game, but especially in the first half.

     In the 25’ minute Franklin was able to play a direct ball to Lopez who made a nifty one time through ball down the right wing to Birchall (who appeared to be offside, especially to the Colorado supporters) whose cross was put into the back of the net by Colorado center back Moor’s attempted sliding clearance. Moor clearly should have done better but the aggressiveness of Birchall was rewarded.

     Nyassi was involved plenty in the first half and stayed extremely aggressive throughout, but the fruits of his labor were unrealized as his service to Casey and Folan was poor. His corner at the 41’ minute found the head of Moor but Moor’s effort sailed high over the crossbar, never troubling Saunders, the LA keeper. That was the only scoring chance created by Colorado in the first half.

     Just after this corner Saunders’ goal kick was flicked on by Birchall to Angel, who held up the ball nicely on the right wing and laid off a through ball back to Birchall whose cross was deflected back out to Juninho at the top of the 18 yard box, and he unleashed and absolute missile into the top right corner past Pickens to give LA a 2-0 halftime lead. Colorado was slow to close out on Juninho and he made them pay dearly, nearly scorching a hole in the back of the net. Despite LA having less of the ball, they were more dangerous when they had it and thus the halftime advantage was theirs.

2^nd Half:

     Omar Cummings was on at the start of the second half for Nyassi much to the joy of Rapids fans, as he had missed the previous seven games while nursing an ankle injury. With the arrival of Cummings Colorado was much more patient with possession in the final third, and this led to more scoring opportunities than the first half. In the 63’ minute Cummings, who had moved to the left wing, cut onto his right foot past Franklin and put a shot of the near left post that deflected right to Casey who had an easy finish to cut the Galaxy lead to one. It was clear that the introduction of Cummings gave Colorado a much-needed injection of speed and creativity into their attack, making one wonder if the outcome would have been different had he been able to play from the start.

     Just a few minutes after the Rapids goal Casey played a cross-field pass to Cummings, who was back on the right wing, and he laid off a perfect set up to Larentowicz who ripped a shot into the side netting. The look on his face said it all as it was clear he wished he could’ve had that one back, and so would Colorado as it was their best chance to score for the rest of the game.

     A red card to Folan in the 70’ minute after his take down from behind of Juninho seemed to put the game out of reach for the Rapids, as LA was able to sit back and defend even more comfortably with the man advantage. Rapid fans were not the least bit pleased that Juninho was able to continue playing after he was strecthered off.

     In the 80’ minute LA was able to seal their 3 points after a Cummings turnover found right back Kimura out of position being too far forward and Dunivant was able to advance past him down the left wing and lay a soft ball across the 6 yard box to Barrett (who had subbed on for Lopez in the 60’ minute) who about as easy a finish as one could have, to give LA the 3-1 lead and the 3 points.

Conclusion:

     A steal of 3 points by the Galaxy on the road against the defending champions, with Bruce Arena and Co. showing the rest of the league why they are in first place. LA was extremely disciplined and well-organized and even though Angel seemed a bit off the pace, they were able to attack from the flanks and exploit the aggressiveness of the Colorado wingers to net 3 goals without their two main players.

     Colorado walked off the field Saturday night feeling like they should have done better against the short handed Galaxy. Gonzalez and De la Garza of LA proved to be the victor of their matchup against the partnership of Casey and Folan. After Folan’s sending off Casey was stranded alone up top. Colorado can take solace in the fact that with a healthy Omar Cummings the outcome may have been entirely different.

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