If not for Rafael Navarro’s first goal in eight games in the last minute of second-half stoppage time, the Colorado Rapids’ exit from Leagues Cup would have rested on a lengthy, controversial reversal of an offside call.
Instead, the Rapids won in penalties, 4-3, after a 1-all tie in regulation.
At first glance, Club León’s Iván Moreno was called offside in the buildup of a play on a breakaway. Rapids keeper Zack Steffen saved Moreno’s 1-on-1 shot, but the ball bounced off the post and onto Edgar Guerra’s feet for an easy tap-in in the 79th minute.
A lengthy VAR review took place when the linesman’s flag went up. The crowd of 13,644 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park groaned in disagreement when the offside was overturned. The noise grew much louder when the replay was shown on the video board.
Then Navarro struck in the 90+7th minute when Cole Bassett found Keegan Rosenberry, who flicked the ball onto a wide open Navarro for a tap-in header.
Leagues Cup rules force penalty kicks if the score is tied after regulation. And with a spot in the round of 32 on the line, Djordje Mihailovic came up big with the Rapids’ first goal of the shootout in his first match back from the Olympics in Paris. Bassett, Navarro and Moïse Bombito all made their attempts while Andreas Maxsø missed his.
Zack Steffen came up with the shootout’s first save on Leon’s third attempt and won it with a save on León’s final attempt. With six saves in regulation, Steffen was easily the Rapids’ best player on the night.
The Rapids will play later this week in the round of 32 after being stunned by Portland by a score of 4-0 last Thursday. In the tournament’s second iteration, this will be the Rapids’ first time in the knockout stages.
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.
Link to original article