Somehow, Rafael Navarro remains a player some teams lose sight of on defense.
In a game where the Colorado Rapids as a whole played like anyone but themselves, Navarro was true to himself as he displayed his sneakiest superpower: an innate ability to drift into space, unnoticed for split seconds at a time.
It was enough to find a winner in the 26th minute against a tough Minnesota United team on the road. After a wonderful turn at midfield by midfielder Paxten Aaronson, Navarro sprang free in the right channel. Aaronson played a good ball, Navarro dribbled across the goal and finished neatly past Drake Callendar for the lone goal of a 1-0 Rapids win at Allianz Field.
It was the Brazilian’s eighth goal of the season, tying him for eighth on the MLS scoring leaderboard. Well before the halfway mark of the season, he’s already halfway to breaking the single-season club scoring record (16). With four assists to total 12 goal contributions this season, he trails only Lionel Messi (16).
“First of all, itap the individual excellence of Rafa to be able to do that, and I think itap that combined with the understanding of the team’s patterns. If you watch the goal back, itap straight off the training ground,” Rapids coach Matt Wells said. “…Rafa and Paxten went to a different level tonight.”
The Rapids were in dire need of a result in MLS play after going winless in five matches while scoring three goals and earning just one point in a tough moment in the schedule. Minnesota entered the game with a formidable 21 points, albeit with an inconsistent home record. Colorado took advantage to get back on track, but via an unexpected style of play.
Forced to be creative with a bevy of starters benched with injuries or suspensions, Wells threw out a five-defender lineup with Connor Ronan and Wayne Frederick — both recently back from their own injuries — running the midfield with Aaronson. A lineup relatively unfamiliar with each other at game speed, Minnesota was able to control possession and drum up more chances.
Its best was a crossbar-skimming miss by former Rapid Anthony Markanich on a lovely cross by James Rodriguez, a Colombian legend who played his sixth and final MLS match on Wednesday before heading home to prepare for the World Cup. Seconds before serving the ball to Markanich, he had a shot of his own rattle off the crossbar.
The Rapids held an uncharacteristically low 45% possession, marking just the second game this season where Colorado didn’t possess the ball more than its opponent. It needed just five shots (two on target) to take the lead and did well to hold Minnesota to 12 shots (two on goal) and 1.17 expected goals, with no actual production.
Nico Hansen, in for an injured Zack Steffen, held his first and the Rapids’ third clean sheet of the year. A response in an unfamiliar but bold fashion ahead of the first leg of the Rocky Mountain Cup at rival Real Salt Lake on Saturday.
“I definitely think there was an increase in the mentality to force a win, to demand the win and to make sure there is nothing happening here that will stop us winning,” Wells said. “I just said to the guys, ‘We’ve got to bottle that,’ because on Saturday, when maybe the system changes back and the football reappears, itap not just that thatap going to win us that game. Itap going to be a combination of the football plus making sure this mentality we showed this evening has to be a baseline. It has to be a foundation for us going forward.”
