The Colorado Rapids (10-12-6, 36 pts., 7th West) fell on the road 3-0 to the LA Galaxy (4-16-7, 19 pts., 15th West) on Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park. Despite the loss, the Rapids saw the club debuts of three different players, including new Designated Player Paxten Aaronson, recently acquired defender Rafael Santos, and longtime Rapids 2 midfielder Daouda Amadou.
The hosts managed to strike first directly off a counterattack in the seventh minute. After a few passes in the box, the ball found the foot of Harbor Miller, who slotted home a shot to go up 1-0.
As the first half went on, the Rapids attack slowly began to find their footing. The club found attacking opportunities through the wings, with defender Reggie Cannon and Sam Vines playing forward in the attempts of finding an eventual equalizer.
Despite the increase in attacking pressure for Colorado following the LA goal, the scoreline would remain at 1-0 as the match headed to halftime.
The Rapids came out of the break where they had left off, with the club maintaining a majority of the possession. Colorado was able to put together attacks in the final third, but it would be the Galaxy who would grab the match’s next goal to double their lead.
Midfielder Elijah Winder led the play, found the ball following a combination pass, and sent in a shot to give his side a 2-0 lead in the 55th minute.
Following the Galaxy goal, the Rapids made their first substitution of the match, with recently signed Designated Player Paxten Aaronson making his club debut in the 59th minute of the match. Colorado acquired the USMNT midfielder this week via a club record transfer with Eintracht Frankfurt.
The home side would eventually add another, with Gabriel Pec finding the back of the net off a breakaway to go up 3-0 in the 75th minute.
In addition to Aaronson’s club debut, tonight’s match also marked the club debuts for two other Rapids. After being subbed on in the 80th minute, recently acquired defender Rafael Santos and midfielder Daouda Amadou both logged their first minutes in Burgundy.
That would be all for this match, with the Galaxy taking all three points at home. The result was the first time Rapids were shutout since their July 9 matchup against LAFC.
Rapids head coach Chris Armas shared his thoughts on how the group can move forward:
“It's a game that we'll learn from. I'd say from the start of the game, all the way through, we just didn't bring our good stuff on the night, which is disappointing, but you learn from it. Like we don't harp on the wins and get too high, we won't sit on this too long. You have to think forward. We have to think about the next game.”
The Rapids will shift their focus to next weekend for their matchup against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday, August 30. Kickoff at Children’s Mercy Park 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.
