The Colorado Rapids (6-6-4, 22 pts.) fell on the road to the Portland Timbers (7-4-5, 26 pts.) at Providence Park on Wednesday night. Captain Djordje Mihailovic scored the Rapids’ lone goal in the 2-1 contest.
On a perfect night in Portland, the Rapids headed into a tough road matchup against the Timbers.
The Rapids started the first half on the front foot and created quality chances from all areas of the pitch. The wings of Ted Ku-DiPietro and Sam Bassett managed to take advantage of the Timbers’ high-pressing play by creating opportunities while the opposition was tracking back to their normal positioning. Colorado also thrived in the middle of the pitch with Mihailovic leading the charge early.
Any chance that Portland had would be calmly dealt with by the Rapids back line and goalkeeper Nico Hansen, who has been a stalwart in net in his three matches since filling in for an injured Zack Steffen.
The Colorado attack would eventually break through, with the club’s leading goalscorer at the helm of an impressive run in the 33rd minute. After a scramble for the ball along the left wing at midfield, Mihailovic found himself with the ball and started to drive down the middle of the pitch. Once the Olympian got inside the box, he calmly sent a low shot to the far post to give Colorado the first lead of the match.
The goal was his seventh of the season, extending his club lead. His seven goals are tied for the fifth-most by any player in MLS this season.
Portland began an attack in the 40th minute that would lead to one of their best opportunities of the night. Following an errant handball in the Rapids’ box, the Timbers earned a penalty kick. Felipe Mora stepped up to take the penalty and eventually sent his shot right to the middle of the net, where Hansen calmly stayed to make the save and maintain the Rapids lead going into halftime.
Colorado went into the break with the lead, but there was plenty more action in store for this match in the second half.
The Rapids started attacks early in the half, but it would be the Timbers who would manage to equalize in the 59th minute. Following a missed shot by Colorado, Portland started a counterattack and had numbers in the attacking end, with Antony managing to put a shot on goal and find the back of the net to level things at one goal apiece.
After subs by both sides, the match’s momentum began to even out.
In the 67th minute, Rapids midfielder Wayne Frederick received a red card, putting Colorado down to 10 men for the remainder of the match.
Ten minutes later, the Timbers found another breakthrough, with Kevin Kelsy tapping home a cross to give his side their first lead of the match.
Despite being down a man and a goal, Colorado still pushed for the equalizer but were unable to find another before the final whistle.
Head Coach Chris Armas spoke on the positives that can be taken from Wednesday’s match:
“Believe it or not, games like this are going to make us better. There’s a lot we’ll take from it, whether that means we can create chances as down a man, still stick to who we are, that we can sit in the mid- to lower-block and be very, very good for long periods of the game. We'll take some positives from this, I'm sure of it.”
Colorado will have a short break until their next match against Austin FC at home on Saturday, June 7. Kickoff at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park is set for 7:30 p.m. MT with coverage available on MLS Season Pass with Apple TV, ColoradoRapids.com, and the Colorado Rapids App.
