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FULL-TIME: A late Cristian Roldan goal allowed the Sounders to salvage a point, maintain their spot at the top of the Western Conference and clinch a Top 4 spot in the playoffs.
RAPIDS 1, SOUNDERS 1: Just moments after entering, Léo Chú generated some much-needed magic, driving hard into the box and then delivery a cross that Cristian Roldan finished for his fifth goal in six games.
Cristian Roldan confirmed. pic.twitter.com/AZy3JWQfZV
— Sounder At Heart (@sounderatheart) October 21, 2021
RAPIDS 1, SOUNDERS 0: Dominique Badji scored off a corner in the 66th minute, heading Jack Price’s delivery past Stefan Frei.
The last time the Seattle Sounders played the Colorado Rapids this late in the season with near this much on the line, it was the 2016 Western Conference finals. The stakes aren’t quite as high this time, but they’re about as close as they can get in the regular season.
The Sounders currently sit atop the Western Conference standings, just six points clear of the Rapids, who are in third place. A Sounders win would not only clinch a Top 4 spot in the playoffs, but it would also effectively cut out the Rapids in the race for the top spot.
Both teams are coming into this game in the midst of schedule congestion, having played on the previous Saturday with upcoming games the following Saturday.
The good news is that the Sounders have so far played very well in these types of situations, going 11-2-2 in games played on five days’ rest or less. The Rapids are 5-3-2 in similar circumstances.
Notes
- The Sounders have already tied their franchise record for most road wins (9) and can tie the post-shootout MLS record (2018 Atlanta United) if they can win one more.
- The Sounders are currently sitting on 199 all-time regular-season MLS victories. They’ve needed 417 games to achieve that. As long as they can get win No. 200 within the next 15 games, they’ll be the fastest MLS team to reach that mark.
- The Rapids are tied for second in MLS with 12 set-piece goals. Of those, 10 have come on corner kicks. The Rapids lead MLS with 40 set-piece goals since 2019.
- The Rapids will clinch a playoff spot with a win.
Absences: Injury, international duty and suspension
Seattle
OUT: Jordy Delem (R ACL tear); Nicolas Lodeiro (R knee surgery); Jordan Morris (L ACL tear); Raul Ruidíaz (L hamstring strain); Brad Smith (R AC joint sprain)
Colorado
OUT: Diego Rubio (yellow card accumulation)
Officials
REF: Drew Fischer; AR1: Frank Anderson; AR2: Jeremy Hanson; 4TH: Matthew Corrigan; VAR: Jair Marrufo; AVAR: Fabio Tovar
How to Watch
Match date/kickoff time: Wednesday, 6:08 PM PT
Venue: Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, Colo.
Online Streaming: Amazon Prime (affiliate link, in-market), ESPN+ (affiliate link, out of market), Fubo TV (affiliate link)
Local English TV: Fox13+ (Costigan, Keller, Zakuani)
Local Radio: 950/1090 KJR-AM Seattle (Costigan, Keller, Zakuani)
Local Spanish Radio: El Rey 1360 AM (Rodriguez, Maqueda, Tapia)
National Spanish TV: TUDN (Luis Omar Tapia, Jose Luis Lopez Salido, Tony Cherchi & Daniel Schvartzman)
Lineups
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Highlights will be posted as the match progresses.
This is Seattle Sounders at Colorado Rapids; watch with us
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