Colorado Rapids v Houston Dynamo: Holding looking to avenge crazy Toronto defeat

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Rob Holding wants the Colorado Rapids to take out their frustrations on the Houston Dynamo following a dramatic 3-2 defeat against Toronto FC in their last MLS outing. In a game that saw three players sent off, two of which were for Colorado in Jackson Travis and Miguel Navarro, the Rapids led by two goals early in the second half. However, Richie Laryea reduced the deficit in the 65th minute before a bizarre own goal from goalkeeper Zack Steffen restored parity at BMO Field. And with five minutes remaining, Josh Sargent rose highest to meet Alonso Coello's corner and seal all three points for Toronto, inflicting the Rapids' third defeat of the season. "I would definitely describe that as one of the craziest games I've been a part of in my whole career," Holding said. "Last time we had a home game was after a tough away loss. "We bounced back against Portland, and we can use that same energy coming off the back of that loss. This will be the bounce back against Houston now." Colorado boss Matt Wells also recalled the way his team bounced back in that Portland game, following an opening-day defeat to the Seattle Sounders. Holding was asked whether that same mentality would be used again and said: "He [Wells] mentioned that after the Seattle match, and he said, 'I feel sorry for Portland because I know that we are going to bounce back from this.' "The standards that the gaffer holds, we knew that the whole session was going to be in Portland. It's been the same this week, and it's against Houston, so they will be the victims of that last loss."But Colorado will come up against a Houston side aiming to return to winning ways themselves, after they went down 1-0 to Seattle due to Paul Rothrock's 85th-minute winner. It was a game that the Dynamo competed well in, though it was the Sounders who edged the expected goals (xG) battle 1.4 to 0.94, and they eventually got their reward late on. Dynamo boss Ben Olsen acknowledged the strength of the performance, but conceded that his 10th-placed team must be more ruthless in the final third. "It was a tough result because it was our best performance this year," Olsen said. "I'm disappointed for the guys because everybody put in a shift against a really good team."I thought on the day we were the better team, but that is what they do. They are hard to beat, and you really have to earn a goal against them. I said that earlier in the week."And, unfortunately, we didn't do that. If you don't put one or two in against them, they are good enough to sneak one. I thought there were some great performances on our team."PLAYERS TO WATCHColorado Rapids – Rafael NavarroNavarro scored a brace in the Rapids' last home game on March 7, his fifth career multi-goal game for the club, with three of those coming at home.That is tied for the most multi-goal games at home in Rapids history, with Navarro joining Conor Casey, Mark Chung, Omar Cummings and John Spencer.Houston Dynamo – GuilhermeNew signing Guilherme has adapted well to life in MLS since joining the Dynamo, tallying four goals through his first five games with Houston.He is the fourth Houston player to score at least four goals in the team's first five games of a season, and the first since Memo Rodriguez had four goals to start the 2019 season.MATCH PREDICTION: COLORADO RAPIDS WINThe Rapids snapped a seven-game winless run against Houston with a victory in the last meeting between the sides in September 2025.However, Colorado have not won back-to-back games against the Dynamo since a four-game stretch across 2020 and 2021.But they will have confidence that they can do so at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Colorado have won their first two home games of a season for the first time since 2022. The Rapids have had a longer home winning streak to begin a season just twice – six-game runs in both 1999 and 2016.Four of Houston’s five games this season have been decided by a single goal, with their two wins this year both coming by a one-goal margin. Dating back to last June, all six of their wins across all competitions have come by exactly one goal.OPTA WIN PROBABILITYColorado Rapids – 48.4%Draw – 25.8%Houston Dynamo – 25.7%