Santos opens Rapids account, but Colorado draws at home to Minnesota United – The Denver Post

The Colorado Rapids live to fight another matchday, but seemingly just barely.

A 1-all home draw to Minnesota on Saturday night felt like a must-win, despite the Rapids starting the night in a playoff spot. A loss would have been detrimental to holding onto that position, but every point in the standings is crucial at this stage.

Rafael Santos opened his Rapids account with a 45+1st minute free kick for his fourth goal contribution in as many starts for the club. From 20 yards out and two yards right of the center of the goal, Santos drilled a lefty shot around Minnesota’s wall and into the opposite side netting past Dayne St. Clair.

Santos, acquired from Orlando City for a measly $125,000 in General Allocation Money in August, has been clinical at left back in a short span. Though there have been times his defending has been questionable in transition, his offensive output is already the best this team has seen in years at outside back.

And the production doesn’t end at contribution to scoring. He’s taking most set pieces — free kicks and corner kicks — in the absence of the steadfast Djordje Mihailovic at the role. An assist and a goal have come directly from him taking free kicks.

His acquisition was described as a competition piece for Sam Vines, who plays similarly to Santos, but it doesn’t seem like much of a race for position anymore. Still, Vines subbed on in the final 10 minutes to get at least some run. But his playing time has slowly diminished as Santos continues to break out.

Minnesota equalized in the 65th minute via a rocket by midfielder Nectarios Triantis. A deflection bounced kindly to Triantis, enough to blast a shot from 25 yards out past a diving Zack Steffen. In many ways, the goal itself took the wind out of Colorado’s sails, but so did the way the game opened up to a coast-to-coast affair afterward.

The Rapids came inches from a last-kick winner, a Cole Bassett header which St. Clair saved. Neither side could break through for a winner.

Pending other west-coast results, the Rapids are still in eighth, but the gap between the next few teams is that much closer. To Colorado’s detriment, a couple of them still have a game in hand, which makes it feel like the draw means playoff hopes are no longer entirely in the Rapids’ control.

Their final two games are away to rivals Real Salt Lake and a Decision-Day nightmare home matchup against Denis Bouanga’s and Son Heung-Min’s LAFC. That game, if LAFC still has a higher seed to play for, seems insurmountable against that duo of wingers, which alone has scored LAFC’s last 18 goals.