To hear the Colorado Rapids tell it, there was only one team that came to play in Saturday's 1-0 victory against Houston Dynamo. Though neither team was able to find the back of the net and the Rapids had to depend on an own goal, they dominated the match, controlling the pace and taking the best team in the league off its game.
"There was one team today that played well, and it was us," said head coach Fernando Clavijo. "Anytime you get a win, especially against a team like Houston at home, it's something that will make you very comfortable. We are turning things around for the next 10 games we have. That's the idea."
Clavijo returned to a 4-4-2 formation, after experimenting with a 3-5-2 formation against Kansas City and Dallas, and the result was clear to see, as Colorado controlled the ball and created numerous opportunities.
"We keep the ball extremely well," Clavijo said. "The problem is, possession hasn't translated into scoring goals. This is something that we need, to be more aggressive. We took chances, we created chances on both sides, right, left. I though we saw Terry Cooke probably have the best game he's had in the last 10. That helps.
"Sometimes we are a little too predictable. Sometimes we get demoralized when something goes wrong and we can't recover. Today we battled 90 minutes against adversity and we managed to win. This team always has a great intensity and fight. We finally got the win that we needed."
Cooke attributed much of the team's renewed passion to the "wakeup call" of getting knocked out of the U.S. Open Cup by the Seattle Sounders in a 5-0 defeat earlier in the week, but he also enjoyed the return to the 4-4-2 formation and the opportunity to be more involved in the attack.
"I've been a bit frustrated this season," Cooke admitted. "I haven't had as much of the ball like I used to in the past two seasons. Obviously teams have been marking me different, trying to keep my out of the game. The last couple games we've been playing 3-5-2, and Kansas City and Dallas, they like to have wide men and keep people pushed up forward, so basically I've been playing like a fullback the last couple games."
Cooke also tipped his cap to fellow midfielder Colin Clark, a Colorado native who debuted with the team against D.C. at the end of June and had another quality outing Saturday night.
"It helps that we've got balance on the team," Cooke said. "We've got Colin Clark, who's a left-sided player. So we haven't actually got a right-sided player on the left always tucking inside - it closes the game. Now we can actually stretch teams out. We've got someone on the left tracking people down outside of the players, delivering on both sides. It was good. I could attack because I knew he was going to go on the outside, and vice versa. I think that was a big difference tonight."
The goal came on a Cooke corner kick in the 61st minute, when he bounced a ball off Dwayne De Rosario's head and into the net beyond goalkeeper Pat Onstad.
"I meant it," Cooke said. "I put a good ball in against Kansas City to get [Facundo Erpen] the equalizer, and it worked. I did it again tonight. I put in a dangerous ball, and Dwayne [kicked it over the goal line, giving Colorado] another corner kick. I saw Jacob [Peterson] moving up to the front post, and I thought I'd put the same ball in again. We got lucky enough, the chances went our way, and we got the bounce and the ball went in."
As Cooke acknowledged, the game-winner owed something to luck, but it was luck the Rapids earned through 90 minutes of passionate playing.
"We have been unlucky the last couple games," said Clark. "The breaks haven't come our way. Tonight the breaks did go our way with the own goal, and that was the difference. We all played hard and worked well together, and I believe we deserved the win tonight."
The win snapped a 10-match winless streak and helped re-energize a club that had to be wondering about its playoff potential given the more than two months since the team had reason to celebrate.
"As far as I'm concerned, it was a must-win game, as far as having a chance," said midfielder Pablo Mastroeni. "It doesn't have anything to do with mathematically, but just for the psyche of the team. We were in the dumps, and to go up against the best team in the league and put up an effort like this and get a result speaks volumes about the character in this clubhouse.
"Unfortunately, this low was a lot lower than we anticipated, but like all good pros we find ways to get out of it, and hopefully we're on the way up."
Owen Perkins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
