The Colorado Rapids dropped their third consecutive match on Friday, a 1-0 road loss to the San Jose Earthquakes. Clarence Goodson headed home the only goal of the game off the post in the 53rd minute.
Overall, a draw would have been a fair result, but as this season has shown, Colorado has not been clinical enough in front of goal and Friday night proved to be another tough loss for the Rapids who stay in last position in the Western Conference.
Following the match, head coach Pablo Mastroeni and defender Bobby Burling spoke about the loss.
Here are the highlights…
Pablo Mastroeni: “Obviously disappointing, I think we got off to a good start, we imposed ourselves onto the game quite well, and got into it quite well.”
Bobby Burling: “I though we had a couple of chances maybe to get a point out of it, but on the night but we weren’t good enough to get a win.”
Mastroeni: “It was a pretty even first half. Good chances going both ways. In the second half, again, we started bright and just one moment when we were shut off on a free kick and tuned out and then we’re reacting. Some poor marking in the box and it cost us the game.”
Burling: “We go down 1-0 and we’re chasing the game at that point. The best chance came off an early cross and Dillon (Powers) having a header on goal but not enough chances going forward.”
Mastroeni: “I thought (our new signings, Maynor Figueroa and Sean St. Ledger) adjusted well, I thought they got in the game. Again its always tough to acclimate yourself to a new team and a new style of play. I think they held their own and did well. I look forward to their continued adaptation to the group.”
Burling: “If you look at the last six games, we’ve won three in a row and lost three in a row. It’s a bit of a rollercoaster right now. We have to get back to our defensive mindset as far as being tough to break down and no mental lapses. That being said, there’s no easy game at this point in the season. We have to take one game at a time… At this point in the season, we can’t let point slip away and I think the last three games we put in three decent performances, but that’s not good enough at this point. We have to capitalize on our chances.”
Mastroeni: “We’ll continue to hammer the final third piece, the attacking third. Just again, being very forward leaning, being very aggressive, but doing so in a way that there’s a final product. We get in good areas but there’s nothing at the end of it and I think that’s what’s disheartening and that’s what well continue to focus on.”
The Rapids will return to action Saturday on the road against the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park.
Sammy Mugharbil, a Mile High Sports intern and student at MSU-Denver contributed to this report
