Colorado Rapids 3, Seattle Sounders 1 | 2016 MLS Match Recap

Caitlin Murray

The Colorado Rapids and their newest acquisition Jermaine Jones continued their strong run of form on Saturday night, rolling past an injury-worn Seattle Sounders, 3-1, for their fourth straight win at home.

Jones struck first and again played an active role, recording four shots on the night, tied with Shkelzen Gashi, who had a chance at his own goal but Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei denied his second-half penalty kick.

Colorado's Luis Solignac doubled the Rapids lead, but Sounders rookie Jordan Morris pulled one back, only to see Rapids sub Kevin Doyle put the match out of reach with a clinical finish off a pinpoint cross in the 86th minute.

Box Score

20’ -- COL -- Jermaine Jones -- (Shkelzen Gashi)
51’ -- COL -- Luis Solignac (Dominique Badji, Mekeil Williams)
63' -- SEA -- Jordan Morris (Christian Roldan)
86' -- COL -- Kevin Doyle -- (Dennis Castillo, Sam Cronin)
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Three Things

1. JONES ON A ROLL: After a roaring start last week in his first match with Colorado, Jones announced that he was out to prove his doubters wrong. He did it again on Saturday, striking first and helping Colorado take the match by the horns against a Sounders team that seemed unable to respond.

2. SOUNDERS INJURIES: The question coming into the match was how the Seattle Sounders could win a match without star striker Clint Dempsey and Paraguayan international Nelson Valdez. The answer that came Saturday night was a harsh one: They can't. Though the Sounders led the possession battle (57 percent compared to 43 percent) and nearly equaled the shots total (13-to-14), they looked more disjointed in attack than Colorado and had trouble linking up.

3. BATTLE FOR THE BALL: They're the kind of issues you run into when you're winning games: The Rapids held the lead and were awarded a penalty kick in the 67th minute. Gashi set out to take it, and Jones -- apparently feeling he should take the kick -- tried to take the ball away from a reluctant Gashi. With a visibly annoyed Jones looking on while being consoled by a teammate as the penalty kick proceedings got underway, Gashi's effort was blocked. It'll be interesting to see who takes the next penalty.