Colorado Rapids shut out Houston Dynamo to go level on points with Western Conference leaders

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:02 am

Dominique Badji scored the only goal of the afternoon midway through the second half, and William Yarbrough stopped six shots to record the shutout as the visiting Colorado Rapids defeated the Houston Dynamo 1-0 on Sunday at PNC Stadium.

The win allowed the Rapids to move into a tie for first place in points in the West with Sporting Kansas City and the Seattle Sounders, who each have a game in hand. The Sounders play Monday at home vs. the LA Galaxy.

Colorado has already clinched a berth in the MLS Cup playoffs and one of the top three seeds in the West and subsequently a Round One match at home. The Rapids are still in the running for the top spot in the conference and a first-round bye, with a home match vs. LAFC on Decision Day still left to play in the regular season.

Badji put the Rapids on the board in the 58th minute. He waited at the six-yard line for a pass from Younes Namli before turning and ripping a left-footed shot between the legs of Dynamo defender Sam Junqua and into the bottom-right corner of the net past Houston goalkeeper Michael Nelson.

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Yarbrough's clean sheet was his 13th of the season and the 17th of his two-year MLS career.

The Dynamo have dropped three straight matches and have long been eliminated from the postseason. Houston fell to 12th place in the West and cannot finish better than 11th, as MLS' three Texas-based teams (FC Dallas, Houston and expansion Austin FC) make up the bottom of the conference table.

Colorado finished 3-3-1 in its seven matches in the month of October. The Rapids swept the season series with Houston, posting victories at home in May and Houston in August and on Sunday, outscoring the Dynamo 7-2 in those three matches.

The win on Sunday was the Rapids' 16th of the season (their most since they had 20 victories in 1999) and expanded Colorado's point total to 58, tying a club mark established in 2016.