Colorado Shocks Pundits, Fans, and LAFC

Well, safe to say nobody saw that coming.  In a match where the odds were stacked heavily against the Rapids, they simply came out and dominated the game and the score line.  After the match we found out from Coach Fraser that the trip home from Minneapolis for the Rapids was worse than we knew, with them not arriving back at the Dick until Friday morning.  So in the space of 52 hours the Rapids played 72 minutes in Minnesota, got stuck over night, got back to DSG and reviewed film before a quick training session, got some rest, and went out and beat the best team in the league.  An impressive result.

Random Musings:

• Certainly two penalties in the first 25 minutes helped, but despite LAFC's protests they were both legitimate.  You can't kick a guy in the head (1st) or truck a guy over (2nd) and get away with it.
• And yes, the VAR on the penalty kick was fairly clear that LAFC's keeper came off his line.
• That's about the only mistake he made all game.  Without him the Rapids win by 4 or more.  His save on Lewis in the second half was save of the week material.
• Even without the PKs the stats slightly favored the Rapids.  And you can't just ignore the  PKs because the were earned by the Rapids getting the ball into dangerous  positions.  End to end Colorado was the better team.
• While LA's keeper was busy Yarbrough had very little to do.  In fact he came out at halftime for some extra warm-up time because he got so little action in the first half.  His kick save near the end of the game was the closest LAFC got to bothering him.
• Maybe or best defensive game of the season.  Trusty and Abubakar were co-MOTM, and Trusty (along with Fraser) were named to the Team of the Week.
• Bryan Acosta was arguably our best attacker, but everyone had a good match.  We're going to need to work him into the side more now that Price is back.
• And yes, Captain Jack is back!  His first free kick was a perfect cross and Zardes' header was just off the post.
• Speaking of Zardes, great to see him get his first goal.  Now to get him one from the run of play.
• Things don't get easier from here.  We're off to KC on Wednesday night, then back here Sunday night to face Seattle.

Man of the Match: Lalas Abubakar.  I could have easily gone with Trusty, as mentioned, or Acosta, or even Rubio (for drawing one PK and scoring the other).  I went with Lalas because the defense really deserved it and I think he just edged out Trusty.  Maybe just because Trusty has higher expectations on him now.  But they both played great.  Lalas made sure nothing go through him, and distributed the ball well.