Game Grades: Crew vs Colorado Rapids

With the return of Pedro Santos and Zack Steffen, Columbus Crew SC took on the last place Colorado Rapids on Saturday night. Columbus came into the game off of a 1-0 loss to Minnesota United last week, and went to Commerce City in looks to defeat the Rapids. That was not the case, as the Rapids won 3-2.

Here is how the team performed:

Zack Steffen (5.5): If you expected Steffen to become Super Man in his return to the lineup, you don’t know how injuries work. He came back to the starting 11 after suffering a foot injury and a mild concussion and did his best, but it was not good enough. Three goals allowed against the worse team in the league? That does not bode well when your time with Columbus is coming to an end.

Hector Jimenez (6.9): Still sitting in at the left back position, Jimenez did get an assist on the Santos goal. His night, though, came to a grinding halt when he was replaced by Josh Williams in the 42nd minute.

Gaston Sauro (6.3): Sauro was a bit lackluster on Saturday. He was out of position most of the night, and wasn’t really aware of anything defensively. Normally we would see a pretty solid performance from the defender, but it wasn’t there tonight.

Jonathan Mensah (6.6): The Ghanaian center back was the heart of it all. Everywhere on the pitch, you saw Jonathan. Needless to say, he was the best defender on the field, despite having the Rapids’ second goal deflect off of him and into the back of the net.

Niko Hansen (6.5): Playing in a right back position from the start for the first time in his Crew career, Hansen was tasked with bringing more offense from the fullback position. He did that but only completed one key pass and two crosses.

Wil Trapp (6.4): The captain was quiet all night. The offensive side of his play was not there as he spent little time helping the Black & Gold around Colorado’s penalty area.

David Guzman (6.0): There was not a peep from the newly acquired Crew midfielder. Guzman didn’t make an impact in any sort or fashion to help propel the Black & Gold to at least a draw.

David Accam (6.2): The winger seemed to find his groove in this game. He was able to find space and time to attack in transition, but was unable to get a decent look on target.

Federico Higuain (7.1): Higuain didn’t produce much in this game. He did take a knock in the first half, which probably limited his ability to be creative in the midfield, but he wasn’t quite himself. After halftime, Higuain was better as he also got an assist on the Zardes goal.

Pedro Santos (7.6): The Portuguese native made his return to the starting lineup after missing the Minnesota match last week due to personal reasons back home. And what a comeback it was for him, as he was able to get a goal in the 28th minute. This made up for the lack of defending on his part on the Rapids’ first goal.

Gyasi Zardes (7.3): The forward had a good look on goal in the first half, but the performance from the newly minted Designated Player needed to get better throughout the game. And it did as Zardes tied the game in the second half, just after the Rapids took a 2-1 lead before halftime.

Robinho (6.3): The Brazilian made little to no impact on the game when he entered in the 69th minute.

Mullins (6.0): When Mullins entered, it was to get a bit more offense in the striker position, but that didn’t work.

Williams (6.5): The center back replaced Jimenez in the 41st minute and helped control the defensive line. Although it was good enough until the late goal by Colorado’s Nicolas Mezquida, Williams’ impact on the match was effective.

Caleb Porter (5.8): Porter returned Steffen and Santos back to the lineup. The decision to put Hansen into the right back position was eyebrow raising but did pay off at certain points of the match. That doesn’t change the point that Columbus has lost eight of their last nine, and were outscored 7-2 in the team’s last three matches.