The Colorado Rapids and Toronto FC will look to rebound from midweek losses when they meet in Commerce City, Colo., on Saturday.
Colorado (14-10-5, 47 points) is coming off a 4-1 defeat in Kansas City on Wednesday — its first regular-season loss to Sporting in more than two years. It was also the Rapids’ first loss in MLS action since a 3-2 road setback against the Los Angeles Galaxy on July 17, as Colorado won its next three matches.
Defender Michael Edwards had the Rapids’ lone goal on Wednesday, the first of his MLS career, in his fourth match.
“Not the result or performance that we were looking for,” said Rapids coach Chris Armas. “There’s going to be nights like that. It was our 29th match in MLS — you can’t have your good stuff all the time, and we’ve had it for most of the season.
“A positive is that we’re on 47 points, we’ve earned every one of those points, and we’ve put ourselves in a good spot for the playoff push. We’re probably a win or two away from (clinching).”
Entering Saturday’s action, Colorado is fourth in the Western Conference table, two points back of third-place Los Angeles FC.
Brazilian forward Rafael Navarro has a team-leading 14 goals and five assists in 29 appearances this season for the Rapids.
Saturday is the only regular season meeting between Colorado and Toronto.
The two sides played to a scoreless draw in their last matchup in September 2021. The Rapids own a 6-1-2 all-time mark vs. TFC in Colorado.
Toronto (11-16-3, 36 points) travels for the match after dropping a 2-0 decision to the defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew in Canada on Wednesday.
“We should’ve changed something out of the first half; that was pretty clear,” Reds coach John Herdman said. “Second half, when we had momentum, we had to capitalize on the moments that we had. I thought tactically, the team was sound.”
Federico Bernardeschi has led Toronto’s attack this season. The Italian forward has eight goals and eight assists in 26 matches. German striker Prince Owusu has seven goals in 27 appearances with the Reds this season.
Toronto sits eighth in the Eastern Conference table, two points back of seventh-place Charlotte, with four matches remaining.
–Field Level Media
