After Saturday afternoon’s 2-1 loss in Toronto, the Colorado Rapids are beginning to wonder where a win will come from as they continue to struggle to make chances and fail to be as rock solid at the back as they need to be.
The defending MLS Cup champions appeared to have Saturday’s game at BMO Field under control until the home team took full advantage of two chances early in the second half to gain the momentum. As hard as they tried to get back into the game, it proved too difficult a challenge to overcome as the Rapids slipped to their third straight league defeat.
“It is just so hard to create good chances right now – they seem to come up once in a while only,” defender Kosuke Kimura told MLSsoccer.com. “They created two chances, they finished them and it just killed us. We just made it such an effort for ourselves.”
WATCH: Full Match Highlights
One positive to come out of the match is that the Rapids now have only one league game remaining away from home, at Vancouver on Oct. 22 – the last day of the regular season. Their next three league games are at home to San Jose, FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake. Manager Gary Smith has said he wants at least two wins to be sure of a playoff spot.
“We’ll get back home now and we know we have to come out of our shell, get some points and boost our confidence,” Smith told MLSsoccer.com. “Right now, I have to say, though, that this is one of the most difficult periods we have been in since I have been here, not because we are especially poor, but you can start to lose sight of what it takes to win a game when you keep getting beat.”
After an uneventful first 45 minutes, Saturday's game screamed into life when Danny Koevermans scored twice for the hosts within the first 15 minutes of the second half. Both goals were from good crosses but the Rapids defense was slow to react.
“It just seems far too easy for teams in general to get in front against us right now and it makes for an uphill task,” Smith said. “We have conceded more goals than we would like but it’s not the fault of any one player. It’s a collective effort and we all know that.”
Including the defeat midweek to Santos Laguna in CONCACAF Champions League, the Rapids have now lost their last four games. They will have the chance to turn things around with two home games coming up within the next week – the San Jose game on Sept. 24 and a CCL match at home to Real España next Wednesday, Sept. 21.
“We just need to keep playing,” Kimura said. “If we don’t win this one, we will win the next one. We have home games coming up and we can’t drop them, that’s for sure.”
