Colorado Rapids Blank LAFC 1-0 as Cabral Carter's Penalty Save Cannot Rescue Visitors

Cabral Carter's first MLS start had a little of everything. He saved a penalty. He made another big stop before halftime. He kept LAFC within one goal for the rest of the night. The only thing he could not do was stop his own teammate from scoring for the other side.

Jeremy Ebobisse's 22nd-minute own goal held up as the Colorado Rapids beat LAFC 1-0 on Wednesday night at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Nico Hansen kept another clean sheet, Rafael Navarro had a penalty saved, and Son Heung-Min and Denis Bouanga came off the bench without finding the equalizer. Colorado's fortress in Commerce City is starting to look like a real thing.

A Deflection Decides It

LAFC came in with a rotated lineup, and Colorado pounced early. Navarro headed a chance wide in the eighth minute, and in the 22nd, the Rapids got their reward from a dead ball. Youssef Maziz, making his first start for the club according to the Rapids, whipped a free kick in from the right, and the ball deflected off Ebobisse and into the net. VAR took a look and confirmed the goal. Maziz's night was not all sunshine: he was booked for a handball about ten minutes later.

It was a cruel way to concede for an LAFC side that had started Ebobisse up front alongside Tyler Boyd and Jacob Shaffelburg. Boyd answered with a long-range effort that forced Hansen into a save in the 25th minute, and Yevhen Cheberko dragged a shot just wide in the 36th, but the visitors were chasing from there.

Carter's Big Moment

Colorado had a golden chance to put the game away before halftime. Nkosi Tafari was penalized for a foul on Navarro inside the area in the 40th minute, picked up a yellow card, and Navarro stepped up two minutes later. Carter dove the right way and kept it out, saving low in the bottom right corner.

LAFC's club recap described the 22-year-old as an LA native and academy product, which only makes the moment better. He was not done, either. In first-half stoppage time, he also stopped a Maziz shot from the right side of the box to keep the deficit at one.

At halftime, LAFC swapped Aaron Long in for the booked Tafari.

LAFC Push, Colorado Hold

The second half started with Colorado still dangerous. Navarro pulled a shot wide in the 46th minute, and Paxten Aaronson somehow missed from very close range in the 54th. Aaronson also sent a 63rd-minute free kick just over the bar. Early in the half, play had also stopped twice for injuries, first to LAFC's Mathieu Choinière and then to Colorado's Darren Yapi, and both carried on.

LAFC's best spell came in the 57th minute, when Shaffelburg, Ebobisse and Eddie Segura all had shots blocked inside the area in quick succession. Seven minutes later, the stars arrived: Son replaced Timothy Tillman and Bouanga came on for Shaffelburg.

It did not open the floodgates. Son was caught offside in the 78th minute, Mathieu Choinière had a shot blocked a minute later, and Bouanga headed a Mark Delgado cross high and wide in the 87th. Colorado lost Hamzat Ojediran and Miguel Navarro to injuries in the closing stretch, and Kosi Thompson and Noah Cobb came on in their place.

The Rapids could have doubled the lead in eight minutes of stoppage time. Navarro headed just over, Aaronson had a shot blocked, and Dante Sealy forced one more save from Carter. LAFC's last chance fell to Son, whose shot from distance was saved in the top left corner by Hansen.

Who Showed Up

Cabral Carter was LAFC's best player. ESPN credited him with five saves, the penalty among them, and he gave his side a chance to the very end.

Nico Hansen made two saves, including the one that mattered most on Son at the death. The AP noted it was his third consecutive shutout.

Rafael Navarro was a constant menace with five shots, two on target, but his penalty miss kept the night tense.

Youssef Maziz made a strong first impression with the free kick that produced the winner, two shots of his own, including the stoppage-time effort Carter had to save.

Paxten Aaronson had three attempts and set up three more. He really should have scored in the 54th minute.

The Numbers That Matter

• 50.7 percent possession for Colorado, which tells you how even this was.
• 13 shots to 10 in Colorado's favor, with four on target to LAFC's two.
• 26 clearances from the Rapids, against 16 for LAFC.
• 24 crosses from LAFC, only seven of them accurate.
• 1 penalty taken, 0 scored. Carter made sure of that.

What It Means

Colorado are 9-1-10 with 28 points and rolling. This was their third straight league win, all three by shutout, after 1-0 over Austin and 2-0 over Sporting Kansas City, and their fourth win in five league matches since the World Cup break. According to the Rapids, it was also a fourth consecutive home shutout, which the club called the second-longest such streak in its history, and their recap listed Colorado seventh in the West after the final whistle. The Rapids travel to San Diego on Saturday.

LAFC are 10-4-7 with 34 points and listed third in the West by the Rapids, but the trend is not great. They are winless in three after a draw at Vancouver and back-to-back 1-0 losses to San Diego and Colorado, and they have not scored in either of those defeats. The two sides played to a 0-0 draw in Los Angeles in April, so LAFC have yet to score against Colorado this season. Portland visit BMO Stadium on Saturday.

Final Whistle

Sometimes the script writes itself, and sometimes it is written by a deflection. Colorado will not care how the ball went in. Dick's Sporting Goods Park has turned into the soccer version of a haunted house for visiting attackers: they walk in confident, wander around for 90 minutes and leave without finding what they came for.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Additional details from the Colorado Rapids (coloradorapids.com), LAFC (lafc.com) and the AP recap via ESPN. Neither club's recap included postgame quotes.