The Colorado Rapids (13-5-9, 48 points) fell 3-0 to Seattle Sounders FC (16-5-6, 54 points) on Sunday at Lumen Field. The Rapids were reduced to 10 men when Lucas Esteves was shown a straight red card in the 61st minute. The loss ends Colorado’s 12-match unbeaten streak and its six-match road unbeaten streak. With seven matches remaining, Colorado is in third place in the Western Conference, six points behind first-place Seattle and nine points ahead of fifth-place RSL.
Notable:
- Clint Irwin made his first start of the season and his 105th career MLS appearance for the club, second-most all-time among goalkeepers. 19-year-old Homegrown Abraham Rodriguez was included on the 20-man gameday roster for the first time this season.
- Lucas Esteves was shown a straight red card in the 61st minute, Colorado’s first of the season.
- The match was the first of a three-game road trip for Colorado. The Rapids visit Minnesota on Oct. 9 before a battle for the Rocky Mountain Cup at Real Salt Lake on Oct. 16.
- Former Rapids Homegrown Shane O’Neill came on for Seattle in the 69th minute.
COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH ROBIN FRASER
On the match:
“We didn’t start well enough. We didn’t start with enough urgency. Seattle was very clinical in taking their opportunities early. It always hurts when you go down early. It was a frustrating night. I was really proud of the way the group played with 10 [men] in the last 30 minutes. We really saw the character of the group. It’s interesting that, I think it was last week, Dominique Badji is in the act of shooting—no, it was against Toronto—and he gets absolutely hammered and it’s not a foul. And somehow—I have to laugh—this red card that was given to Lucas [Esteves] tonight, I think if I say anything more I get fined. I would just say go back and look at it. Everyone go back and look at it and if you have an opinion let me know.”
On his message to the team:
“You look at where we are in the table. We’re not there by luck. We’re there because we’ve earned it. We just need to keep remembering that.”
COLORADO RAPIDS CAPTAIN JACK PRICE
On the match:
“Obviously very disappointed again. With the goals we conceded, we give them an early goal inside the first what, two minutes? You cannot come to a place like this and give them a goal, let them sit on a lead and can’t give them too many hits on the counter so many times. But very impressed with the way the lads dug in second half, especially after the shocking call from the referee giving the red card on Lucas [Esteves]. [I]t’d be nice to hear from him and see what he thinks about the red card decision for once. But yeah, very proud of the boys. After that, we dug in, created a few good chances, but a disappointing night when we felt we could come here and get something the way we’ve been playing, so it’s a shame, but roll our sleeves up and not dwell on it too much and get ready for Minnesota next week.”
On how the team could have responded after the first goal:
“Just play, just believe a little bit. Show no fear. It was funny, when we went down to 10 men, we actually probably played better football than we did with 11. Obviously they sit back a little bit more, it’s 10 men, they’re 3-nil up, but just be brave. Come to a place like here, we’re a very good team when we believe each other and play good football. I feel we could have done a bit better in terms of, as you say, calming down. The first goal, it’s very early on. It’s a bit of a shock to everyone when you concede that early, but we’ve got to realize, we’ve got to quiet the crowd, keep the ball, just be professional. It’s an away game and you have to do your best to nullify their threats and we just gave them too much early on, maybe too much respect. But very impressed with the way we battled on in the second half. Like I say, we can’t dwell on it too much. That’s the way to get over these games. You just move on quickly. We’ve got another game next week and we just need to get ready for that.”
