The Colorado Rapids (11-13-6, 39 pts., 8th West) secured an all-important victory over Houston Dynamo FC (8-13-9, 33 pts., 12th West) by a final score of 2-1 on Saturday night at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park. A Cole Bassett goal and a last-minute Houston own-goal, forced by new Designated Player Paxten Aaronson, led to a crucial three points for the Rapids as the regular season comes to a close.
With only five matches remaining in the MLS regular season, both Colorado and Houston were prepped to fight for every point possible in a tight Western Conference. The Rapids entered the night in eighth place with 36 points with the Dynamo not far behind in 10th place with 33 points.
The match started off slow, with both sides attempting to create attacking chances to no avail. Despite the lack of scoring opportunities to start the match, the Rapids kept pushing to take the lead. Those efforts proved to be beneficial, as the club would find the match’s opening goal in the 10th minute after being given a prime free kick opportunity at the top of the box.
After drawing the foul himself, midfielder Cole Bassett stepped up to take the set piece alongside Rafael Santos and Oliver Larraz. The trio brought out their bag of tricks, with Santos nonchalantly stepping over the ball and laying it off behind him to a running Bassett, who sent in a curled shot with pace around the Houston wall and past the goalkeeper to take a 1-0 lead.
The goal was Bassett's 31st in MLS play as a member of the club, putting him into a tie with Chris Henderson for the sixth-most in club history. Santos’ assist was his third of both the season and as a Rapid, with all three coming within his last two appearances.
From there, the Rapids back line and goalkeeper Zack Steffen stood strong, preventing any real opportunities from the Dynamo for the remainder of the first half. The scoreline would remain the same heading into the break, with Colorado holding a 1-0 lead after the first 45 minutes.
Houston came out of the halftime break on the front foot and created some of their best opportunities of the match up to that point. That increased attacking pressure would lead to the eventual equalizer, when midfielder Jack McGlynn got one the end of a cross and tapped a shot home to even things at one goal apiece in the 68th minute.
Despite conceding, Colorado returned to their play from the first half and ramped up the energy for the remainder of the match. Fresh legs from substitutes including the club debut of Alexis Manyoma gave the Rapids a major boost, with the group spending a majority of the second half with possession in the opposition’s defensive half.
Six minutes of added time gave the match an increased level of suspense, with Colorado knocking on the door multiple times in their attempts to send the crowd at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park home happy. Chances from Manyoma and Ted Ku-DiPietro added to the suspense.
In the match’s dying moments, the Rapids managed to secure a corner kick for one last hope at three points. Connor Ronan stepped up for the service and whipped in a cross to try and find Designated Player Paxten Aaronson in his home debut. The midfielder sent in a glancing header that deflected off a Houston defender and into the back of the net to send the home crowd into a frenzy.
From there, the Rapids locked down the victory to secure the crucial three points at this point in the MLS regular season. The club currently sits in eighth place in the Western Conference with 39 points and only four matches left to play.
Head Coach Chris Armas spoke on the resilience of his team to come away with all three points:
“What can I say? We wish all games were like that. That exciting, dramatic, end. The game winner. The way the team pushed for the win. They gave the crowd energy; the crowd gave the boys energy. But the best part for me was to see the level of desire that the guys had to win. At one end, it's doing all you can to get on the end of something and push to create chances. While you're trying to do that, you're giving up chances, but then at the other end, guys are putting their bodies on the line, blocking shots in and around the goal. This is what the playoffs feel like, and this is a playoff type of game, a playoff type of atmosphere. Thanks to our fans for coming and giving us that support. It's a big win for the guys.”
The Rapids will hit the road for their next matchup against another Texas team in FC Dallas on Saturday, September 20. Kickoff at Toyota Stadium is set for 6:30 p.m. MT with coverage available on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, Altitude Sports Radio, ColoradoRapids.com, and the Rapids app.
