By Favian Renkel
The Colorado Rapids entered Thursday night’s match looking to stay perfect in Leagues Cup play, with full control of their fate in the group stage. Standing in their way, however, was Liga MX side Club Tijuana — a stern test, even with home-field advantage.
In a surprising twist before kickoff, Đorđe Mihailović was not included in the Rapids’ matchday squad. With the stakes high and several MLS clubs struggling to secure regulation wins in their second group-stage games, Mihailović’s absence left fans questioning where their star playmaker was when the club needed him most.
Colorado fielded a rotated lineup and struggled to find rhythm in the early stages. Tijuana capitalized first, as Jackson Porozo pounced on a rebound off the post to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. The Rapids pushed back, and both teams went into halftime locked in a tight contest.
Early in the second half, Porozo’s name appeared on the scoresheet again — this time for the wrong reason. A miscue led to an own goal, leveling the match at 1-1. But the deadlock didn’t last long. Substitute Ramiro Arciga made an immediate impact, scoring moments after stepping onto the pitch with a rebound finish following a save by Rapids goalkeeper Zack Steffen.
Both Steffen and Tijuana’s Antonio Rodríguez came up big throughout the night, delivering several key saves that kept the match competitive. Despite late efforts from Colorado, Tijuana held on to claim a crucial 2-1 win.
With the result, Tijuana keeps its hopes of advancing to the knockout round alive — but must be perfect in its remaining matches. For Colorado, qualification remains within reach. A regulation win in their final group-stage game, paired with a favorable result elsewhere, could still see them through to the next round.
REACTIONS
- Club Tijuana Head Coach Sebastián Abreu
- “Today we made history as the first Tijuana group to win in Leagues Cup... Xolos haad never earned a point in this tournament.”
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH
- Club Tijuana:
- The only goal scored on Antonio Rodriguez tonight came from his own team, he was stellar protecting the net.
- Colorado Rapids:
- Zack Steffen had some impactful saves in the match. It was unfortunate that both goals came off bad bounces.
GAME NOTES
- Club Tijuana earned their first win in Leagues Cup play.
- Club Tijuana has now scored four goals in the tournament, two in each match. They still have a tough hill to climb to advance given the 5-2 defeat in their first game that has them at -2 Goal Differential.
- The Rapids have yet to be able to record a clean sheet in Leagues Cup play.
CARDS/INJURY REPORT
- Yellow Cards
- Colorado Rapids: Wayne Frederick
- Tijuana: Gilberto Mora, Rafael Fernandez
LOOKING AHEAD
- Colorado Rapid’s final game of Phase 1 will be against Cruz Azul, on Aug. 7th at 5:30 p.m. local time at Dignity Health Sports Park, Los Angeles, California, home of the LA Galaxy.
- Club Tijuana’s final game of Phase 1 will be against the Seattle Sounders on Aug. 8th at 8:00 p.m. local time at Lumen Field, Seattle, California, home of the Sounders.
