It took longer than it probably should have against a 10-man Colorado last night, but CITY finally broke through in the 83rd minute. Let's take a look at Tomáš Ostrák's match winner.
CITY had spent much of the match making short passes around the top of the penalty area, which wasn't all that effective in opening up space against a Rapids side that was defending quite well and limited high danger chances. On this play, however, Timo plays a nice switched diagonal to Totland, who tracks the ball well.
Totland's movement towards the ball carried Colorado's Noah Cobb with him, leaving space behind that Ostrák occupied but neither Paxten Aaronson (#10) or Rafael Navarro (#9) immediately rotated into. Hard to blame either for a lack of quick movement on a brutally hot evening after defending for 70+ minutes down a man, but that lack of rotation left Ostrák all alone to receive Totland's excellent header back into space.
From there, Ostrák took a touch to settle the ball and then hit a beautifully weighted shot that cleared Colorado GK Nico Hansen, banged off the inside of the far post and bounced in, giving CITY the 1-0 lead and another 3 points. It was a fantastic shot created by a really nice switched ball and header that saved CITY from what would have been a frustrating draw.
