The iron is still hot, Jonathan Lewis is still striking and the Colorado Rapids are dancing to the Leagues Cup round of 16 after a nervy 3-2 win over Liga MX side FC Juárez on Friday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
Moments before his 28th-minute goal tied the game at 1-all, Lewis had a chance at goal he could have struck first-time, but opted to take a touch and rocket the ball over the crossbar.
The winger said he wanted that chance back at the time. Then his wish came true when forward Rafael Navarro pressed, won the ball back at Juárez’s goal line and found Lewis alone in front of goal. That time, he buried it to the bottom left on his first touch.
“I think what we’re seeing from the team is when we miss chances — before, we’d miss a chance and we weren’t going to score after that, people aren’t taking chances after that,” Lewis said. “I feel like now, every single one of us says we’re going to score after a missed chance. I said that to myself (after the miss) and I literally scored right after that.”
In all competitions, Lewis has scored three goals and amassed three assists in a little more than a month.
After dealing with injuries for the better part of the season, the output has been thoroughly enjoyed, not just for the player who’s been dealing with the toughest year of his career, but for the entire team, Rapids coach Chris Armas included. An added spike of the Rapids’ attack is very much needed with winger Kévin Cabral out at least until the playoffs in October.
“I give him a lot of credit because he had an injury that kept him out for a few months and he just stuck with it,” Armas said. “The timing (with Cabral’s injury) has worked out for him to get injected into the lineup and I think at this level, you need a door to open and you have to run through it.
“He’s been dangerous, I see he’s committed to all sides of the ball and this has been important for us. He gives us a deep option with his runs, he’s comfortable in the final third and I’m thrilled for him.”
Goalkeeper Zack Steffen couldn’t do much to stop the two goals he allowed — a tap-in on a rebound off his glove and a penalty — but he somehow outdid his seven-save performance Monday against Club León with eight more on Friday night against Juárez.
His biggest save of the night came in the 74th minute when Juárez barreled down the left on a breakaway. Calmly, Steffen reacted to Diego Valoyes’ touches and made a great save down and to his left to prevent a game-tying goal.
The Rapids’ game-winner came off of winger Calvin Harris’ head in the 59th minute after the ball bounced around the box on a corner, off the crossbar and right in front of Harris. He pushed the ball through a Juárez defender’s legs and into the back of the net to push the game to 3-1.
As soon as Juárez scored its penalty in the 71st minute to make it a game at 3-2, the chaos only stopped at the mercy of referee Armando Villarreal’s whistle after 10 minutes of stoppage time.
The scariest moment for the Rapids outside of Steffen’s reaction save was when Lalas Abubakar had to make a near-goal line clearance in the 90+6th minute. Had he not intervened, the match likely would have gone to penalties.
Not bad for someone who didn’t know he’d even play the morning of the match.
Armas often preaches to “stay ready so you don’t have to get ready” to his team, and though Abubakar would be the first option off the bench for either Rapids center back, he’s only played a handful of minutes when Moïse Bombito and Andreas Maxsø are both healthy.
Abubakar got a call from Armas on Friday morning saying Bombito wasn’t going to be able to play due to muscle tightness. Impacting the game physically and with last-ditch defending like on his late clearance, ready he was.
“I told him, ‘Coach, I’m ready,’ and he said, ‘Lalas, I know you’re ready,’” Abubakar said. “So that gave me a lot of confidence over the phone to just go out and do whatever it takes for the team to win.”
The Rapids officially gave Lewis the Man of the Match award, but both Lewis and Steffen agreed Abubakar most fit the description.
The win sets up a rematch of the Rapids’ lone home match of last season’s edition of Leagues Cup against Deportivo Toluca. Toluca used a very late equalizer against Houston Friday night to send the match to penalties, then won 5-4.
Last season, Toluca beat the Rapids 4-1 after a lengthy rain delay. The match will be held Tuesday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
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