Dick’s Sporting Goods Park hosted an instant Leagues Cup classic on Friday night as Colorado Rapids continued their stellar season with a resilient 3-2 Leagues Cup Round of 32 victory in a chaotic battle against FC Juárez to secure their spot in the last sixteen of the international tournament.
The madness included the full range of action at both ends of the pitch for all ninety minutes.
Cole Bassett saw the game’s first big chance go begging as he sent his header over the bar from Djordje Mihailovic’s corner despite Bravos controlling the early goings through possession, pressing, chance creation, and simply winning second balls. Colorado had difficulty finding a foothold for the first quarter hour. Eventually, they were punished in the 18th minute when Ángel Zaldivar crashed the goal to tap in the rebound from Diego Campillo’s shot and give Bravos their deserved lead.
Ten minutes later, Colorado found their way back into the match through their press. Jonathan Lewis was gifted a shooting opportunity but missed his shot before Rafael Navarro provided him with a second chance after picking off Juárez captain Francisco Calvo on the Bravos end line. This time, Lewis made no mistake with his finish to equalize.
Seemingly, that was the spark Rapids needed as they began to control possession and create chances themselves. As the half wound down, Lewis capitalized again by drawing a penalty on José Abella for a handball. Mihailovic slotted home the penalty to send Colorado into the break with the 2-1 lead.
The goals kept coming in the second half as Rapids carried on threatening from set pieces, resulting in Calvin Harris extending their lead to 3-1 in the 59th minute when he bundled in the pinball from Mihailovic’s corner. The nightmare also continued for Calvo as he saw Harris’ goal nutmeg him on the goal line.
Connor Ronan gave Bravos life again in the 71st minute when he took down Avilés Hurtado in the box, allowing Juárez’s other striker to add his name to the scoresheet from the penalty spot to bring his side back within striking distance at 3-2.
As Juárez pushed for the equalizer, former Manchester City goalkeeper Zack Steffen stepped up on multiple occasions to secure the victory for Colorado, most notably with a massive bear claw in the 74th minute to prevent Diego Valoyes from hitting the back of the net.
With the win, Rapids set up another knockout round battle with Liga MX opposition as they will have the privilege of hosting Toluca FC at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in the Leagues Cup Round of 16.
