Colorado
Rapids advance to Leagues Cup quarterfinals with last-minute goal from Darren Yapi
The Colorado Rapids smashed and grabbed their way to a Leagues Cup quarterfinals berth.
Darren Yapi scored in the final minute of regulation to send Colorado to a 2-1 win over Liga MX side Deportivo Toluca late Tuesday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
But this was a game the Rapids very easily could have lost.
The Diablos rattled off 21 shots (six on goal) to the Rapids’ four (two on goal). Toluca dominated the possession to the tune of 64% to 36%.
And if the Rapids scoring on their only shots on goal wasn’t improbable enough, Yapi had to tap in the winner in the 90+6th minute.
In the 45th minute, the Rapids got on the board when midfielder Cole Bassett sent a diagonal longball from midfield to the left side of the six-yard box to Sam Vines. Vines, who otherwise did not have a great first half, laid a perfect pass across goal on his first touch to set up Rafael Navarro for a tap-in.
Then in the 83rd minute, Brazilian forward Paulinho finally tied the match up with a backheel while spinning to get the ball past Zack Steffen, who otherwise had another great Leagues Cup match with five saves.
The Rapids thought they had gone ahead in the 90+1st minute when Connor Ronan put in a ball to Djordje Mihailovic, who spiked a header off the ground and up into the top corner of the goal, but a long VAR review found him offside.
The Rapids homegrown played super sub just five minutes later. A bad touch off of a Toluca defender left the ball right on the goal line for Yapi to slide tackle a winner into the net for just his second professional goal.
Yapi was subbed on for Navarro in the 86th minute, which seemed questionable at the time given the score was tied and penalties loomed. In the end, it turned out to be a genius move from Rapids coach Chris Armas.
The Rapids will play the winner of Club América and St. Louis CITY later this week for a spot in the Leagues Cup semifinals.
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