Rising Rapids seek more from themselves vs. Red Bulls

There was a school of thought that the Colorado Rapids' 4-1 win Sunday night over St. Louis City was their best performance of the season. Not so fast, said coach Chris Armas.

"I don't think so. I think we've played better," Armas said. "I love the fact we scored goals but let's be honest ... when you talk about a complete performance, start to finish, I think there's been better."

Colorado will try to author a more complete 90 minutes Saturday night when it hosts the New York Red Bulls in Commerce City, Colo., in a matchup of fourth-place teams in their respective conferences.

The Rapids (11-8-4, 37 points) are 7-2-2 at home, including a 5-0-1 mark in their last six fixtures in altitude. They have been first-class finishers during that span, outscoring the opposition 16-6.

Cole Bassett, Kevin Cabral and Jonathan Lewis each had a goal and an assist for Colorado, which ranks tied for fifth in the league in scoring. The Rapids will need more from players like Bassett since Djordje Mihailovic, who sat out Sunday night for yellow card accumulation, was named to the U.S. Olympic Team.

"Shocked and excited," Mihailovic said of the news. "It has always been a goal of mine to play in the Olympics."

Meanwhile, New York (9-4-9, 36 points) settled for a scoreless draw in its last match on July 6 at Philadelphia. The Red Bulls put five shots on frame but couldn't get one into the net to earn the result.

It was their first match without midfielder Emil Forsberg, who was placed on the injured list prior to kickoff with a lower leg injury and will miss at least five more matches.

"I think what we have to improve, especially with our ball position, is the structure which we have lost in some moments," New York coach Sandro Schwarz said.

This is the first meeting between the teams since 2022. Colorado owns a 20-17-7 lead in the all-time series.

--Field Level Media