Rapids continue streak of draws in scoreless “dogfight” against Toronto FC

The Colorado Rapids failed for the fourth straight game to earn three points as they drew with Toronto FC 0-0 on Saturday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

Toronto FC is in last place in the Eastern Conference and has only won four games. It had not earned points on the road (either win or draw) since July 24, over two months.

Yet once again, the Rapids couldn’t seal the deal in a very winnable match.

“We probably weren’t as sharp in the attacking end as we needed to be,” Rapids head coach Robin Fraser said. “And at the end of the day it became a real dogfight. And credit to them, they did a good job of making it difficult for us. And while we had a few good moments, probably not as many good moments as we would have liked to have had.”

The Rapids tried to create chances by using the wide areas of the pitch and delivering balls into the box either for headers or on the ground for teammate to finish. The issue was there either was not a teammate there or the teammate could not finish. The Rapids sent in a total of 28 crosses in the game compared to Toronto’s seven.

“I feel like we felt like the last 15-20 minutes, we wanted to go and get that goal so badly we just rushed things,” Colorado captain Jack Price said. “And there was plenty of time left in the game. We’ve scored many late goals here at home and we just got to be a little bit more patient, a little bit more quality around a box.”

Price alluded to utilizing the midfield more often instead of always looking to get the ball moving forward. The Rapids tout one of the best midfields in the league in Price, Kellyn Acosta and Mark-Anthony Kaye, but they failed to utilize them properly Saturday night.

“Maybe we should have been a bit more patient, move the ball side to side, because I think it was causing problems,” Price said. “They were getting tired, and I think we were just a bit impatient and getting the ball forward, just ramming it down the attacking players’ throats and maybe just go through the middle a little bit more and use myself and the pivots in there.”

Colorado had 10 shots throughout the game, but only one on target. If the Rapids look at themselves as contenders, they have a long way to go especially when it comes to production in the final third.

“We’re in such a great position in the league and as a club right now but there’s still that disappointment and that feeling of, ‘Look where we could be if we just got these little finer details,’ ” Price said. “But I can say we’re in a great place and we just got to keep fighting.”

The Rapids are looking at their last nine regular season games as “Cup Finals,” Price said. They have only been able to score more than one goal once over the last five games and to win Cup Finals, they will have to find ways to score more than that.

On the bright side, the Rapids have gone 11-straight games without a loss. That was Fraser’s 50th game at the helm in Colorado, and the improvements he’s made within the club are obvious. But as more and more opportunities to seize control of the top of the table in the MLS Western Conference slip away, it’s clear there’s more growing to do.

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