COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – The Colorado Rapids have been in promising situations before in the last couple of years, but have crucially stumbled and failed at key moments down the stretch. It has often meant missing out on a playoff berth.
This year, the Rapids are actually gaining strength heading into the postseason. Although they came into Saturday night's game against the New England Revolution on the back of a disappointing 3-1 loss on the road in New York, Colorado dominated the proceedings against the Revs to carve out a third straight 3-0 victory at home on Saturday.
In the last four home games, the Rapids have not conceded a goal and have a perfect 12 points out of 12.
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“I thought the performance was one of a group of players who looked inspired,” manager Gary Smith said after the game. “For our guys, it was an extremely good performance and a very very good result.”
Smith said the excellence of the team’s offensive play was key to the fourth straight clean sheet at home.
“When you are on the front foot and creating opportunities, and you are in the ascendancy, it always keeps you that much further away from the goal you are defending,” he said. “The positive play we have shown has helped us keep the clean sheets.”
Even more good news came from the Rapids debuts of Brian Mullan and Macoumba Kandji, who were both acquired this week after trades with Houston and New York, respectively. Mullan started and was replaced by Kandji on the hour.
“I thought his display was a fabulous display for us,” Smith said of wide midfielder Mullan. “The opening 20 or 30 minutes were terrific. In those 30 minutes, we had a complete view of what that player is about. Tonight was a great debut.”
And while Smith saw less of a finished article in Kandji, he knows he has a rough diamond of a player he can help polish. Kandji himself admitted his first few touches coming off the bench were less than perfect.
“He is extremely exciting,” Smith said. “I think you’ve got a very, very exciting forward there.”
The Rapids know they have a series of very tough away games coming up but are hopeful that their form will give them the strength and confidence to get something out of those road games while continuing to play strongly at home. Two of their next three games are at home.
Colorado will immediately test its MLS Cup credentials against one of the top teams in the league as they next travel to visit Rocky Mountain rivals Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium, where the defending champions have not been defeated in a record 23 matches.
