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The Colorado Rapids have every right to feel good about Sunday’s home draw

By Kristian Dyer

Colorado Rapids forward Michael Barrios controls the ball in the first half against the Seattle Sounders. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Colorado Rapids forward Michael Barrios controls the ball in the first half against the Seattle Sounders. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
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A home draw against the leading club in MLS, the Colorado Rapids say, is proof of a team that is on the ascend. Sunday’s 1-1 result against the Seattle Sounders is the latest evidence of a Rapids team that has some staying power.

And now, the Colorado Rapids have sent notice to MLS that they are for real. Of course we’ve known that for awhile.

(That is a subtle hint to read this article).

So against the most dominant team in MLS heading into this weekend, and still the only MLS side not to lose this year, the Rapids didn’t just hang in. They played well.

The Colorado Rapids evenly split possession, had a distinct advantage in shots (14:7) and shots on goal (3:1). They had more corner kicks (7:0) and completed a higher percentage of passes than the Seattle Sounders, a side that made MLS Cup last year.

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The Rapids responded well despite going down in the 41st minute off an Alex Roldan goal, a score that came off some poor passing in the back-third. Michael Barrios, quietly having a standout season, equalized 12 minutes after halftime to see the Colorado Rapids through for a share of the points.

“We played against the best or one of the best teams in the league and they came to our home. We always say we need to show up in these games, and I think we did, we did,” Rubio said after the match.

“We had one mistake in the game, they scored on that mistake, they didn’t have anything else. We had energy, we had everything. We gave everything in the game and it’s a tie. But we need to start from here, we need to play. We need to go to every team with everything. It doesn’t matter which team it is. It doesn’t matter if we play at home or away. We need to go with everything. We showed today that we can do it.”

The goal by Barrios was his third of the season.

Very quietly, the Rapids are having a fine season under head coach Robin Fraser. They are being overlooked by the media because they aren’t a glamour side and yet, general manager Pádraig Smith and Fraser have pieced together a balanced and talented squad.

Defensively, they are difficult to break down. Offensively, they are effective and fluid on the counter-attack. Sunday’s home draw, while disappointing to drop points at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, is still a sign that the Rapids are a quality team.

The Colorado Rapids sit at 5-3-2 (17 points) and in fourth place in the Western Conference. Come playoff time, they can be a difficult out and capable of making a little run if things break well.

They are still a team that needs a dynamic piece in their midfield, whether it be an influential difference maker in the center of the midfield or a pacey threat out wide. But in the here and now, the Colorado Rapids showed resolve in battling back against a Sounders side that came into the weekend atop the MLS table.

“Obviously a very close, hard-fought contest [against] the best team in the league. We know that they’re always dangerous, so for us it was a really big challenge and I felt like in the first half we did okay,” Fraser told reporters after the match.

“We had some decent possession. We weren’t quite as threatening as we needed to be. In the second half, I thought we did a good job at pushing the tempo a bit and making ourselves a little more dangerous in the attacking third, and as a result we were able to keep them under some decent pressure. Obviously, it was great to score the goal but we are disappointed that we didn’t get another one.”

Follow Kristian Dyer of ‘MLS Multiplex‘ on Twitter @KristianRDyer

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