Three takeaways: Missed chances haunt Rapids in Leagues Cup opener

The 4-1 embarrassment to open the Colorado Rapids’ season wasn’t a fluke after all.

Both the Rapids and Portland Timbers are different teams than that scoreline would suggest, with Colorado certainly much better than it was that day back in February. But somehow, a rematch to kick off Leagues Cup went worse for Chris Armas’ team, this time ending 4-0 in favor of the Timbers.

Here are three takeaways from another forgettable night in Portland:

Early missed chances come back to bite

Through five minutes, the Rapids could have been up by two goals. Instead, Portland struck first in the 20th minute.

In the second minute, winger Jonathan Lewis found winger Omir Fernández for a point blank shot right in front of Timbers keeper Maxime Crépeau, but the Canadian keeper somehow got a cinder block hand on the ball to keep the match scoreless. Three minutes later, defender Keegan Rosenberry found forward Rafael Navarro on a similar ball from the opposite side. Navarro put a similar shot on goal from a similar distance and Crépeau came up big again.

Through 15 minutes, the Rapids were the better team. From then on, Portland found its stride and started to creep further and further into the Rapids’ half by way of big switches and long runs.

Eventually, one of those switches found Timbers right back Juan Mosquera, who took a touch and fired a cross to Felipe Mora. On a nice header that also served as a layoff, the ball found forward Antony in a pocket of space large enough to get a shot off from about 10 yards out. The ball went under Rapids keeper Zack Steffen’s legs and in the back of the net.

Horrible second half dooms Rapids

In nearly every phase of the game on defense, the Rapids were not good enough in the second half.

It started with a corner kick in the 52nd minute when David Ayala was left open at the back post on a flick-on by Cristhian Paredes.

In the 69th minute, Mason Toye was kept onside by Rosenberry’s left leg on a transition play. He found himself in acres of space behind the defense and sent a rocket past Steffen. Two minutes later, Santiago Moreno scored on a breakaway.

In the Rapids’ defense, being down 2-0 after 52 minutes forced Armas to chase the game and take more chances offensively. The result was a more open field for Portland to counterattack into.

“We didn’t have our best stuff tonight and we knew all along that we’d have to have the best stuff. We’d have to show that we’ve learned some things from the first time around against a team in transition,” Armas said. “So when teams are powerful like that and built for transition, there’s ways to control that, but it’s always going to be an Achilles heel for us. Like always, we try to address that and tonight was tough in that manner.”

Club León becomes must-win

To get out of the Leagues Cup group stage for the first time, the Rapids will have to win at home against Liga MX side Club León on Monday after Portland beat León 2-1 last Sunday.

Armas said on Wednesday that the chance to play against a Mexican team will present a unique problem to solve in itself.

And though the Rapids were looking for a result on the road, the win-or-go-home nature of the León game Monday at 7 p.m. will be a welcome challenge.

“(León) sets up in different systems, we’ve seen different structures and it’s difficult to prepare tactically for which formation and how they play,” Armas said. “This is a difficult opponent and we’ll have a couple of days to get ready for them.

“… Right now, it’s all about getting home and starting recovery tonight. We’re comfortable in our building and we’re looking forward to quickly getting right back out there.”

Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.