Rapids have a bad day in the office, sink in lopsided 4-1 loss to LA Galaxy 

Sep 19, 2022 - 9:20 PM

Colorado Rapids at LA Galaxy" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PgVW9KdYQHul9zwb2kqLleZVFNs=/0x580:5568x3712/1920x1080/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71389113/usa_today_19070366.0.jpg" />

Rapids’ Captain Jack Price summed his team’s shellacking to the Los Angeles Galaxy this way, “A bad day at the office. There’s not really too much I can say to be honest. I was disappointed—in myself as a team. As a team, we weren’t good enough from the start. Probably the worst 45 minutes I’ve had in a Rapids shirt for a while, so I’ll take responsibility for that too. Just a really bad night.”

Like the Colorado Rapids, the Los Angeles Galaxy came into the big game with a chip on their shoulders and a voracious keep-fighting appetite. They, too, are competing for that elusive final playoff spot in the MLS Western Conference.

Los Angeles took it on the chin Wednesday night when they lost 3-nil to Vancouver and desperately needed to win against Colorado.

They also were very aware of their record 0-6-2 record against Colorado in the past half-decade and intended to put an end to that no-win streak.

They came out of their changing room in Dignity Health Sports Park and did just that.

From the first whistle, they played with a certain vengeance before a lively Saturday night South California crowd, scored three times in the first half, once in the 2nd, and easily shut down Colorado that was not firing on all cylinders.

Head coach Robin Fraser put forth his best eleven line-ups in the must-win match, including Jack Price, who had not started in months. So did Galaxy’s HC Greg Vanney.

Vanney’s fighting side dominated from start to finish and in doing so, kept their hopes of a berth in October’s playoffs genuinely alive.

Los Angeles out-ran, out-danced, and out-back-heeled Colorado within their 18-yard box.

First, it was Gaston Brugman who turned on his afterburners as he flew past Lalas Abubakar, then slipped the ball around Will Yarbrough to put L.A. on the scoreboard in the 21st minute.

Four minutes later, Raheem Edward’s dance liked Fred Astaire on the Hollywood set of Silk Stockings, mesmerized the Rapids’ defensive unit with his moves, and finished by blasting the ball past Yarbrough to put L.A. up by two.

Next came “Chicharito’s” turn. The All-Star striker drifted into the penalty box, took a pass from his right side, and with his back to the goal, promptly no-look back-heeled the ball past Yarbrough.

His spectacular score will certainly be a goal of the week candidate.

The Rapids went into the locker room down by three, and the wind sucked out of their sails.

“When you’re on the road, and you turn the ball over, and the other team gets excited, the crowd gets excited; it’s certainly not the way we wanted to start the game, said Fraser during his post-game interview. “I think some of our defending just wasn’t as good and clean as it needed to be.”

Early in the second half, Gastón Brugman scored his second of the night and, in doing so, finished off Colorado.

In the 90th minute, Rapids’ late-season acquisition, Sam Nicholas, scored, but like his arrival to help the Rapids push their way into the playoffs, the goal was too late to change the outcome of the match in misty Carson, California.

The Rapids will close out their regular season with two more matches. On October 1, they play host Dallas on new sod, and their finale is set for October 5 in green Austin.

And they haven’t given up hope, but they odds keep getting longer by each day. ”We’re not mathematically eliminated. That’s all there is. We’re not mathematically eliminated—until we are, we are absolutely going for it,” the believing Fraser commented. “So, for us, it’s about spending the next two weeks getting sharper on some things that we weren’t quite as sharp on tonight as we should have been. The mentality is if we have a little lifeline, we’re going to go after it and not until we are done are we done.”

The looking forward Price wrapped up his presserby saying- “What went wrong, could have gone wrong, did go wrong. Very disappointed, but we still have a chance on some results, so got to keep our heads up and try and get something out of Dallas now.