Good luck trying to take down the Colorado Rapids on their home pitch.
The Rapids (10-8-4, 34 points) are 6-2-2 as the hosts this season and enter the match against visiting St. Louis City on Sunday undefeated in their past five (4-0-1). They haven’t lost at home since May 11.
“With our fans, with altitude, with the energy of the building, our pitch and the comfort of home, we’re proactive. We go after it,” Colorado coach Chris Armas said. “What I love most is the energy of the crowd and the tempo at which we play. We really put teams in fast games, and you can see it.”
Colorado’s most recent home triumph came Thursday, rallying for a 2-1 victory against Sporting Kansas City. Djordje Mihailovic scored the winning goal and assisted on the equalizer; his 10 goals are second on the team, while his nine assists lead the club. But the midfielder will be unavailable for the match Sunday due to yellow card accumulation.
The Rapids will be counting on others in his absence, including 22-year-old Oliver Larraz, who scored his first MLS goal on Thursday.
“What I love so much about (Larraz) is that he’s a winner,” Armas said. “… He’s a reliable player who you can fit in different areas. He’s always going to bring energy.”
The Rapids have won four of their past five matches overall after going winless in their previous four.
St. Louis (4-7-10, 22 points) arrives in Colorado in search of its first road win of the season. The club is coming off a 2-0 win against the San Jose Earthquakes, their first match under interim coach John Hackworth. They also ended a nine-match winless stretch (0-6-3).
Though the road victories have been lacking, St. Louis City have found the back of the net lately. They’ve scored three goals in two of their past three road matches and have multiple goals five times as the visitors this season. In three of those matches, they’ve tallied at least three times.
They could be without Eduard Lowen, who was subbed out in the 85th minute against San Jose after going down with a leg injury. The midfielder is tied for second on the team with three goals; two of those have come in the past two games.
“There’s lots of guys we need to make calls on, how hard we can push them in that third game, and he’s one of those guys,” Hackworth said.
–Field Level Media
