Rapids defend Rocky Mountain Cup in 1-0 win against Real Salt Lake
Djordje Mihailovic scored the winner as the Colorado Rapids edged Real Salt Lake 1-0 to retain the Rocky Mountain Cup and snap a three-game losing streak.
The Colorado Rapids (5-4-5) defeated Real Salt Lake (4-2-8) 1-0 on Saturday night, which marked the team's first victory since April 12. Colorado captain Djordje Mihailovic scored his sixth goal of the season en route to the full three table points and the successful defense of the Rocky Mountain Cup.
The Rapids were without two key players. Striker Rafael Navarro missed his second straight game after suffering an ankle injury in last week’s loss to San Jose. Starting goalkeeper Zack Steffen missed his third game of the season due to a rib injury, in his place third-string goalkeeper Nico Hansen made his second start of the season.
Colorado Head Coach Chris Armas elected to return to the 4-2-3-1 formation used by the Rapids all last year. The tactical change left Darren Yapi as the lone striker and let Mihailovic roam at his natural No. 10 attacking midfielder position.
The 4-4-2 formation, which Armas used in the last six games, had originally brought more high-powered offense to the team, which was apparent in the formations debut in Colorado’s most recent win, a 3-2 victory over San Diego in April. Since then, the formation had grown stale and contributed to the team’s three straight losses.
“In possession, it [the 4-2-3-1] gave us a better ability to better keep the ball at times and overload areas we thought we could expose them, “Armas said after the game. “It helped us breathe a little bit with the ball … we can build on that.”
Through the first 45 minutes, the teams stood at a stalemate. Neither squad troubled their opposition, but the Burgundy boys looked calmer compared to their performance in San Diego Wednesday night.
Going into halftime, the squads were tied at zero. Neither offense broke through for a chance to score, they combined for three shots on target in the first half. Coming out of half, the Rapids came out aggressive. Although the Burgundy Boys were outshot 12-6 they created more valuable chances and kept challenging Salt Lake’s back line.
Finally, in the 70th minute, RSL’s defense failed to clear the ball out of the box while getting pressured and Colorado midfielder Cole Bassett was able to gain possession. Bassett laid it off to Mihailovic, who blasted the ball past the goalkeeper and into the net to give the Rapids the lead.
“It's great,” Mihailovic said about the win. “We spoke about how important this game is, how important it could be as a turning point in our season to get out of the certain rut that we’re in. I think we played a very professionally tactical game.”
The Rapids will host St. Louis City SC (2-5-7) Saturday at 7:30 p.m. MT. In their first meeting on MLS Matchday 1, Colorado and St. Louis split points following a 0-0 draw. The game can be streamed on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.