COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – Seeking their first win of the season, the Colorado Rapids instead lost their second consecutive game following Saturday night’s 4-1 home loss against the Houston Dynamo.
Propelled by the standout play of midfielder Alberth Elis, the Dynamo got an early head start on the Rapids with four straight goals to start the match, including three in the first half.
“The biggest problem for us is the start of the game again,” Rapids head coach Anthony Hudson said. “We didn’t deal with their dangerous player, Elis.”
The visitors scored early with Elis sending in a key ball on the counterattack to Memo Rodríguez, who buried the effort to give Houston a 1-0 lead in the 4th minute.
Houston doubled the lead in the 15th minute as Elis sent in another dangerous ball, crossing the face of Colorado’s goal and deflecting off Rapids defender Axel Sjoberg to put the score at 2-0.
The Dynamo weren’t finished, adding a third goal in the 34th on another Elis cross, which was knocked in for another own goal, this time by Rapids defender Keegan Rosenberry. Despite being outshot 8-3 and outpossessed by Colorado, Houston took its 3-0 lead into the half.
With the Rapids leaking goals on the left side, Hudson made the decision to swap out Dillon Serna at left back for Kellyn Acosta off the bench.
“Kellyn did well,” Hudson said of the move. “His first couple of defensive situations, he played in well. He’s just an athlete and can get up and down the line. He took a bit of a knock at the end, which affected the rest of his game.”
But Elis continued to dominate the match, adding a fourth goal for Houston in the 67th minute on a through ball from Mauro Manotas and extending the lead to 4-0.
Colorado pulled a goal back when a former Rapid, Maynor Figueroa, was called for a handball in Houston’s box in the 80th minute. Kei Kamara converted the penalty for the Rapids, moving into a tie for 5th all-time for career MLS goals (114) and making the score 4-1.
“It’s an unbelievable achievement,” Hudson said of the accomplishment. “We’re incredibly pleased and proud for him. But he’s more disappointed in the performance, which tells what type of person he is. We need to keep getting him into position to score so I was pleased he got a goal tonight.”
Eight minutes later, the Rapids went down a man when Tommy Smith was issued a red card for violent conduct. It marked the third straight match in which the Rapids have gone down to 10-men.
“We definitely need to figure it out,” Hudson said of the Rapids’ disciplinary issues. “We’ve been in some situations where we’ve seen other players getting different outcomes. On our side, irrespective of what other teams get away with, we still can’t do what we’ve done.”
With the win, Houston remains undefeated on the season through four matches. Colorado has yet to secure a win in as many games.
The Dynamo will return to action April 13th at home against San Jose, while Colorado travels to Orlando April 6th .