Late mistake sees Colorado Rapids concede late in draw at Houston Dynamo
There was a late reward for Houston Dynamo’s increased intensity in the second half of Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Colorado Rapids at PNC Stadium.
“If you look at the first half, we did a really good job of keeping possession, kind of unbalancing Houston and making it difficult for them to deal with us. We found good entry passes and made ourselves dangerous,” Colorado coach Robin Fraser said after the Rapids settled for their seventh point through four Major League Soccer matches. “In the second half, due to Houston’s intensity, I felt like we got away a bit from what we were doing.”
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With a minute and stoppage time separating the Rapids from a third straight win, Rapids keeper William Yarbrough played a goal kick right to Memo Rodriguez in the middle of the field.
The Houston midfielder took the ball down with his chest and quickly played the ball ahead to Tyler Pasher, who passed the ball around the onrushing Yarbrough.
It was the first goal Colorado conceded since the Feb. 26 season-opener.
“Mistakes happen. A mistake happened, and it happened at an inopportune time,” Fraser said. “At the end of the day, it was much more about our performance in the second half than it was about Will’s mistake. … I’m unaffected by that because I’ve seen, and I’ve committed, many mistakes in my life, so I know that that happens.”
Dynamo keeper Steve Clark made no mistake on Jonathan Lewis’s shot inside the box 10 minutes into the action.
After Lalas Abubakar played a long ball down to Keegan Rosenberry down the right flank, Rosenberry volleyed the ball into the box. Lewis settled, got the ball onto his right foot and took his shot only for Clark to push it wide of the goal.
Roughly 30 minutes later, the Rapids would open the scoring when Mark-Anthony Kaye was in the right place at the right time for a second week in a row. Danny Wilson flicked Jack Price’s corner beyond Clark, leaving Kaye to redirect the ball into an open goal from the far post.
“We know exactly where to go, and our movement is good,” Kaye said, crediting assistant coach Chris Sharpe with the team’s set-piece success. “Pricey serves a good ball, so as long as I do my job, and if the ball gets there, the team is requiring me to put it in the back of the net. We’ve been very good at set pieces, and we want to continue that.”
The Rapids would post a fifth straight scoreless half to take a 1-0 advantage to the second half. Colorado put three of its six shots on goal, while all three of Houston’s attempts were off target.
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Houston created a series of chances early in the second half before defender Auston Trusty broke free and had a chance to double the lead in the 76th minute, but Clark was again up to the task. Houston finished with advantages in possession (58.1%-41.9%) and shots (13-8), though the Rapids put four of their shots on goal, one more than Houston.
The Rapids host their Rocky Mountain Cup rival Real Salt Lake at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on April 2.
“Part of this team’s maturation is that we have to be able to still have the confidence to play the way we can play even when the pressure gets stepped up,” Fraser said.