The Colorado Rapids will face the challenge of an extremely short turnaround when they host Los Angeles FC on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday’s matinee will kick off less than 48 hours after Colorado (3-4-3, 12 points) was last in action.
The Rapids were originally slated to visit Minnesota United in the U.S. Open Cup fourth round Wednesday night. But inclement weather forced the match to be suspended and resumed on Thursday afternoon.
Colorado eventually lost 2-1 on Emanuel Reynoso’s 87th-minute goal, four minutes after Minnesota went down to 10 men following a red card to Brent Kallman.
Playing two games with only one day in between is rare, but Colorado defender Keegan Rosenberry is trying to look at the bright side.
“It’s a good opportunity for us to quickly correct the things that we wish we could’ve done better today,” he said. “Any time you come off a loss, you want another chance as soon as possible to make things right.”
They’ll also have the chance to avenge an earlier 3-0 loss at LAFC (7-1-2, 23 points) to open the regular season.
The Rapids were also facing a short turnaround then, three days removed from losing their CONCACAF Champions League round of 16 series to Comunicaciones of Guatemala.
Carlos Vela scored all three goals for LAFC in that Feb. 26 match. Even though the 2019 MLS MVP has only found the net one other time in 2022, Los Angeles enters the weekend in the lead in the Supporters’ Shield standings.
Manager Steve Cherundolo used Vela off the bench in Tuesday’s 2-0 Open Cup win over the Portland Timbers, but started many of his regulars in the contest. LAFC got goals from Cristian Arango in the 32nd minute and Mamadou Fall in the 54th.
“We’ve prepared them over the past two weeks for a week of three games,” Cherundolo said. “And next week as well. And we’ve prepared our players for this, we trust them and we believe physically that they can handle it, which is why I fielded the team that I fielded.”
–Field Level Media
