Yapi shines in Rapids win over St. Louis City
The Colorado Rapids (6-4-5) convincingly defeated the St. Louis City Soccer Club (2-5-8) 1-0 on Saturday night thanks to striker Darren Yapi’s third goal of the season. Colorado’s goalie Nico Hansen was able to frustrate St. Louis’ attack all night, only allowing one shot on target all night compared to the Rapids’ five.
Colorado Head Coach Chris Armas opted to stay with the 4-2-3-1 formation for the second week in a row which was complimented with an extreme press when players lost possession of the ball.
Hansen started his third game of the year in place of starting keeper Zack Steffen who’s dealing with an oblique injury. There is a chance Steffen does not return to the pitch for Colorado until early July due to his United States Men's National Team call-up for the team’s upcoming friendlies and the Gold Cup. While Steffen is out the Rapids will be in good hands, through Hansen’s first three games he has managed to keep two clean sheets and look like a seasoned veteran, taking control of the pitch at all times.
Striker Rafael Navarro, who had five of the Rapids’ 16 goals going into the game, was also unavailable. In place of his brother Cole, who was also out with injury, midfielder Sam Bassett made his first MLS start. Midfielder Ted Ku-DiPietro also made his first start as a Burgundy Boy.
Just seven minutes into the match, a rain and lightning delay halted play for an hour and a half. Once the teams reentered the pitch, Colorado looked unorganized. Defensive midfielders Josh Atencio and Oliver Larraz along with defender Reggie Cannon were able to keep the squad afloat, but St. Louis relentlessly applied pressure.
In the 36th minute, STL winger Cedric Teuchert received a ball that left him one-on-one with the Rapids’ keeper. Hansen closed off Teuchter’s right side and forced a shot that was brilliantly saved and cleared out of danger. The save provided some much-needed energy for the Rapids.
Five minutes later, Ku-DiPietro danced up the right side of the pitch and delivered a cross near the penalty area to Yapi. The striker controlled the ball and blasted it into the bottom left corner of the net to give Colorado the lead.
“It's just instinct,” Yapi said after the game. “I’m in the box and I just had one thing in mind which was to shoot and it just went in.”
Although the Rapids were not dominating the first 45 minutes, it was clear the Burgundy Boys had more energy on the pitch.
Yapi continued to stretch St. Louis’ defense at will. In the 60th minute he made three defenders miss during a run deep into the penalty area, but was dispossessed before getting a clean shot off. In the 80th minute he blasted a right footed shot from above the box that was barely saved by keeper Roman Bürki.
“It's not easy when there's a delay,” Armas said after the win. “It's another win for us at home, we’ll take it … Big win for us, the shutout is important … It's a big team effort.”
The Rapids will head to Providence Park to take on the Portland Timbers (6-5-4) on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. MT. In their first meeting in late March, Colorado conceded three goals en route to their first loss of the season. The game can be streamed on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.