Three points: Rapids gain momentum with convincing win over Charlotte

As good as a response as you’ll see in Major League Soccer, the Colorado Rapids (3-1-2) followed up what Cole Bassett called “one of our worst home performances in a long time” with what Chris Armas called the club’s “best performance since the Leagues Cup run last year.”

The Rapids are back in the win column after a 2-0 win over a Charlotte FC team (3-2-1) that scored six goals in its two previous two matches.

Djordje Mihailovic, a lot like in his coming-out party last season against LAFC, scored both goals in the team’s only home afternoon game of the season to open his 2025 MLS scoring account. They came within three minutes of each other via a half-volley in the 78th minute and a penalty in the 81st.

Unlike in that LAFC game, the Rapids kept a clean sheet against Charlotte, the team’s third in just six games this year.

Here are three takeaways from a momentum-building win at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday afternoon:

Fernández over Cabral out wide?

Rapids winger Kévin Cabral has shown flashes of excellence this year, but has more often been where promising possessions go to die, whether by keeping the ball at his feet too long or by chopping the ball back just to pass and reset.

He proved most valuable during the home opener against FC Dallas, where he played in a 4-4-2 alongside Rafael Navarro. That game, he made annoying central runs that took defenders’ attention off of Navarro and ultimately opened up enough space for the striker to score two goals.

They haven’t gone to the formation again since, sticking with a 4-3-3 which has been fluid all year. Cabral’s impact has been minimal.

Given Cabral takes up a Designated Player spot on the roster, it’s highly unlikely he doesn’t start every match for which he’s available. But over the past three games, Omir Fernández has provided two assists off the bench, including to Djordje Mihailovic against Charlotte. Throw in Calvin Harris and his goal against San Jose (on a Fernández assist), and that’s a lot more wing production in way less minutes than Cabral.

That said, it’s a deep winger group and an even deeper midfield core — an important factor to consider given Armas has deployed central mids like Mihailovic, Bassett and Oliver Larraz out wide.

“Omir is a starter in this league. I think on our team, he is a starter,” Armas said. “Did he start tonight? No, but he’s not that ‘sixth man’ (type of player) who comes in and accumulates a certain amount of minutes that way.

“The internal competition we have going on, … I don’t know which coaches have to make these decisions: who’s in and who’s out,” Armas joked. “It’s me obviously, but this becomes tricky. On good teams, this is what it is.”

Rapids rewarded for persistence

It wasn’t much of a coincidence that when the Rapids rattled off their season high in shots (22), they won by multiple goals against a team that will likely finish in the top four of the Eastern Conference this year.

Keep the ball long enough and often enough to rattle off that many shots, and odds are the opponent won’t get as many opportunities. That held true on Saturday, as Charlotte only took 10 shots and had three on goal.

The first half mirrored last week’s first half against Portland in that the build-up was good, but decision-making and ultimately the final action was lacking when it came time to shoot the ball. The Rapids came out in the second half with some sort of vengeance.

At times, like in a five-minute stretch that included five straight blocked Rapids shots, it felt as though they would end up on the wrong side of that fortune. But belief never wavered prior to Mihailovic’s first goal.

“Yeah, that (stretch of blocked shots) was funny. We were in the box, but we didn’t make the goalie save one. I didn’t feel any frustration,” Mihailovic said. “The most important thing is we didn’t start doing our (old) thing. We stuck to the plan and that’s what gets us the first goal and the penalty shout.”

No defensive depth? No problem

With Sam Vines, Reggie Cannon and Jackson Travis all out with injuries, the only Rapids defender on the bench for the Charlotte match was Michael Edwards, who has less than 250 career minutes.

The ring of injuries has forced a variety of lineups defensively, whether it’s Keegan Rosenberry playing left or right back; Ian Murphy at left or center back; or Chidozie Awaziem and Andreas Maxsø switching sides centrally.

Against one of the MLS’s best attacks, you’d have never been able to tell how much discontinuity this back line has played through. Zack Steffen made just three saves in a shutout — the only game this season he had less was against Dallas, when he had two saves and three goals against.

It only spoke to the quality of defense the Rapids threw out. Maxsø’s 6-3 frame and physicality thwarted basically anything Patrick Agyemang was trying to do. Against Wilfried Zaha, it was a collective effort to maintain a slow night — Mihailovic said it made Zaha “quit halfway through the game.” Pep Biel, who was named the MLS Player of the Matchday a week ago, was pretty much a no-show.

“The boys in front of me were really connected and really sharp on the day,” Steffen said. “It gives us confidence, knowing that as long as we have the mentality and willingness to suffer and work together and just put everything out on the field, we can keep clean sheets and we can win games (despite the injuries).”

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