Portland Timbers thrashed Colorado Rapids 4-1 in the opening weekend of the 2024 Major League Soccer season, signaling there is still much work to do for first-year head coach Chris Armas.
The Rapids found themselves down 4-0 at the end of the first half, with many surprised at how clinical first-year head coach Phil Neville’s Timbers were — they scored four goals off seven shots and just 41% possession.
The likes of Djordje Mihailovic and Zack Steffen made their Colorado debut Saturday night along with the return of Sam Vines in his second stint with the Rapids, but it was a first game to forget with the Western Conference team out of the game within the first half-hour of play at Providence Park.
Calvin Harris managed to pull one back for Colorado in the 55th minute, but it was too little too late to try to salvage anything from the match. It was a tough one to take for Armas, especially with the work the club did during the offseason, but many will point to the fact that there are still 33 more games to go in the regular season.
“The first thing I’d say is it’s not the night that we expected, not the result that we wanted and came here for,” said Armas postgame. “But the guys stuck in there, they fought hard to the end and they showed a lot of character and this is a takeaway and as we move forward. I think nights like this, games in general, reveal a lot about our guys.”
Armas explained that from his perspective, the Rapids inability to put away the chances they were presented with early on coupled with with a few key errors saw them fall behind in the first 45.
“We get punished for a few mistakes, don’t finish a few big chances that we have, but we stuck with it. We win the second half, we come out, we fight, and that gives me a lot of confidence in our young team,” he said.
“None of us feel good about it, it’s not the standard that we were going to have around here, but every single staff member and player hurts right now. But it’s not the time to feel too bad for ourselves. We have a lot to look forward to. We’re a good team. I know that and I hope our fans know that. They were in the building tonight, we appreciate that support. There’ll be some more to be happy about moving forward.”
The Rapids return to action on March 2 for their first home game of the season at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park to take on Nashville SC.
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