Recap: LA Galaxy 1, Colorado Rapids 2

Phil West

Jonathan Lewis and Rayan Raveloson traded high-velocity first-half goals, then Andre Shinyashiki brought a late game-winner from the bench as the Colorado Rapids beat the LA Galaxy 2-1 at Dignity Health Sports Park on Tuesday night.

In a battle between third- and fourth-placed teams in the Western Conference, the Rapids closed the gap behind the Galaxy to a single point, all with two games in hand, thanks to Shinyashiki's 73rd-minute winner.

The Rapids got on the scoreboard within the first 15 minutes, sparked by a 10th-minute foul by Raveloson on Lewis in the Galaxy box. It took a moment for referee Silviu Petrescu to confer with Video Review that the ball was indeed going to the spot. But once he did, Lewis took care of it himself, launching a fierce shot past goalkeeper Jonathan Bond.

Lewis troubled LA's backline even further with a 16th-minute effort that was stopped by Sega Coulibaly – which, fortunately for the Galaxy, didn't result in a second penalty awarded – and a 20th-minute chance where Lewis buzzed past Bond but couldn't steer his stumbling follow-up shot past the Galaxy's last man back (Julian Araujo).

However, if this match needed a redemption arc, enter Raveloson in the 34th minute. On a play where the ball made its way around the box, Derrick Williams nodded back to an oncoming Raveloson, who volleyed home his fifth goal in 10 Galaxy appearances.

The Galaxy came on strong at the start of the second half, testing Rapids goalkeeper William Yarbrough on several occasions, including a Williams header that Yarbrough narrowly parried away. Even as the Rapids grew into the second half, the Galaxy still engineered the better chances overall, including a Samuel Grandsir shot that hit the post in the 62nd minute.

Just a minute after subbing on, Shinyashiki got his head onto a Jack Price corner kick, diverted from a Cole Bassett header to the far post, where he rose just high enough on his well-timed jump to beat Bond.

The Galaxy couldn't find an equalizer late on, thus ending their unbeaten streak at four matches. It also allowed Colorado to extend their own current unbeaten streak to four.

Goals

13' – COL – Jonathan Lewis (PK) | WATCH
34' – LA – Rayan Raveloson | WATCH
73' – COL – Andre Shinyashiki | WATCH

Three Things

THE BIG PICTURE: Though both teams have shown their playoff mettle all season, Colorado are now 7-2-3 in their last 12 matches and looking like – barring a late collapse, of course – they’ll again be in the postseason mix. The Galaxy continue to soldier on with Chicharito out, and Kevin Cabral was a late scratch to complicate Greg Vanney’s lineup, but new U22 Initiative striker Dejan Joveljic showed some flashes and could round out into a contributor during the Galaxy’s stretch run.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH: During a second half that was decidedly tipping the Galaxy’s way, Shinyashiki stepped up and scored before he fully found the game's flow.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Though it was primarily felt in the first quarter of the match, Lewis’ tenacity led to one goal and discomfited LA’s backline to great effect.