LA Galaxy vs. Colorado Rapids | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

LA Galaxy vs. Colorado Rapids
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 25
StubHub Center — Carson
August 14 — 10:30 pm ET
WATCH: TVAS, ESPN+

For the second time in 10 days, Western Conference foes LA Galaxy and the Colorado Rapids square off, with the scene shifting to StubHub Center Tuesday night.

There’s little rest for either team, with the Galaxy coming off a 2-2 draw against Minnesota United Saturday night, while, also on Saturday, the Rapids picked up their second consecutive win in the dying seconds, defeating the San Jose Earthquakes, 2-1.

On August 4, the Rapids pulled out a 2-1 win at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. After Romain Alessandrini put the visitors in front in the 33rd minute, Kellyn Acosta leveled in the 50th minute before Sam Nicholson scored the dramatic 90th-minute winner.

LA Galaxy

The Galaxy (10-8-6) squandered a pair of leads and surrendered a late equalizer in a 2-2 draw with the Loons Saturday night in Carson.

Alessandrini opened the scoring in the 7th minute, and that goal stood past the hour mark, until Michael Boxall leveled in the 64th minute. Sebastian Lletget put LA back in front in the 73rd minute, but Romario Ibarra scored six minutes from full time for Minnesota. It was a frustrating night for the Galaxy because of injuries and controversial calls.

“I thought we played well in the first half, I thought it was a really good first half for us,” Sigi Schmid said. “I thought we were good not only offensively but defensively as well. The second half for some reason we dropped off. Obviously, losing Alessandrini hurt us because we really wanted to give him the ball. We thought he could go at their outside back on that side. Losing Gio [dos Santos] at halftime got us out of our rhythm a little bit. It was just not as good in the second half as it needed to be.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: D - Michael Ciani
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: D - Rolf Feltscher (shoulder surgery); QUESTIONABLE: M - Romain Alessandrini (knee injury), F - Giovani dos Santos (leg injury)

Projected Starting XI
(3-4-1-2, right to left)
GK: David Bingham — Dave Romney, Daniel Steres, Jorgen Skjelvik — Chris Pontius, Perry Kitchen, Jonathan dos Santos, Emmanuel Boateng — Sebastian Lletget — Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ola Kamara

Colorado Rapids

Colorado (6-12-5) is making a habit of pulling out late winners in the month of August, with Nana Boateng scoring his first career MLS goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time in a 2-1 win over the Earthquakes Saturday night.

Tommy Smith put the Rapids up in the 24th minute before Magnus Eriksson equalized for the visitors in the 58th minute. After Shea Salinas was sent off in the 88th minute, the Rapids cashed in on the advantage for Boateng’s winner.

“I wish it wasn’t another late one. I’m sure it’s exciting for the fans, but I think the game should have been put away in the first half, to be honest,” Anthony Hudson said. “To be fair, Nana got stronger as the game went on. When we were looking into changes, Nana just grew into the game. Just very pleased with him, I thought he did well, I thought he finished strong.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: F - Jack McBean
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: F - Giles Barnes (ankle injury), D - Kip Colvey (concussion); QUESTIONABLE: F - Shkelzen Gashi (Achilles injury), D - Axel Sjoberg (knee injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-3-1-2, right to left)
GK: Tim Howard — Marlon Hairston, Kortne Ford, Tommy Smith, Edgar Castillo — Kellyn Acosta, Jack Price, Nana Boateng — Enzo Martinez — Jack McBean, Sam Nicholson

All-Time Series

Overall: LA Galaxy 37 wins, 116 goals … Colorado Rapids 26 wins, 82 goals … 10 draws
At LA: Galaxy 24 wins, 71 goals … Rapids 7 wins, 32 goals … 5 draws
Last meeting at LA: LA Galaxy 3, Colorado Rapids 0 (Sept. 2, 2017)