Galaxy Leave Rapids Seeing Stars

The Galaxy came to town without Donovan "Glass Jaw" Ricketts, Old Spice, and PrimaDonnavan. They left with 3 points and a bunch of Rapids fans wondering which team was really missing their best players.

The Galaxy picked apart the Rapids on offense and throttled any offensive chance Colorado got started. The defending champs controlled the ball most of the game (58.4% of possession) but it was the defending Shield winners who made their posession count. In the 25th minute Lopez and Birchall combined to lay a great ball across the front of the box, where Drew Moor slid in to clear it and put it past Pickens into the net. In the 42nd minute Juninho drilled a golazo from 25 yards into the far top corner to give LA a 2-0 lead at the half.

The Rapids came out of the locker room looking much better, mainly due to the return of Omar Cummings to the field. He showed how much he was missed by becoming the most dangerous player on the field. Colorado had a new drive and energy, and it paid off in the 64th minute as Cummings twisted a Galaxy defender in knots and fired at goal, only for Saunders to block it. Luckily Casey has seen this show before and was set up to knock the rebound home to half the deficit. Colorado continued to push for the tying goal and it felt like it was coming, until in the 74th minute Caleb Folan lost his head, dove into a tackle, and saw red. 6 minutes later Todd Dunivant and Chad Barett beat the offside trap and got the insurance goal for a final score of 3-1.

My key to the game was the Rapids making a statement and controlling the game. Um, no, not what happened.

Stats Of The Game: This was Pablo Mastroeni's 300th MLS game and 200th game as a Colorado Rapid (a team record).

Other Observations:

• 3 quick referee notes. The first LA goal was probably over the line before it was crossed in front of the goal. Its really, really, close but I think it was over.
• The red card was a good call. It could have been a yellow, but the Rapids already caught a break when Nyassi only got a yellow for his tackle and a red is hardly unjustified for Folan's tackle.
• The 3rd LA goal was onside. It was a well timed run by Dunivant.
• So with the possible exception of the first goal, it was actually a pretty well officiated game. You couldn't tell by the crowd's reaction by the end of the game though.
• Which leads me to this rant. LEARN THE RULES! By the end of the game 100% accurate calls were getting booed by the fans like they were the missed offside call against FSL. Really gang, it makes us look stupid. Save the outrage for when its deserved.
• This wasn't Moor's best game, in fact it might have been his worst in a Rapids uniform. He made two errors on the first goal, first keeping Lopez onside, then the own goal itself. He was badly beaten (along with the rest of the defensive line) on the third goal. Generally a bad night, but everybody can have one bad night.
• Compare that to Caleb Folan, who's only had one good night so far. Again tonight he was more interested in yelling about not getting the perfect ball than actually working with the balls he did get. Then he tops it off with a stupid red card. If the rumors of interest from England are true I have one word for the Rapids FO, SELL!
• What happened to Palguta and Wallace? Earls proved why he was the 3rd choice. Decent passing and control, horrible marking.
• Now that Mullan and Nyassi are back, Wells Thompson should be getting off the bench until the 75th minute. He contributes nothing on offense and barely enough on defense to be on the roster.
• I understand letting a player rip from 25 yards. 95% of the players in MLS shank that shot and the other 5% shank it 95% of the time. Still Juninho is one of the few players who's proven he can do it though, which should have been taken into account.
• In general it was a pathetic performance from the Rapids. Colorado hasn't won at home since April 3rd, and since the next home game is July 3rd, it will be at least 3 months between home wins. We have to do better.

Player of the Game: Omar Cummings. not only did he set up the goal, but he appeared to be the only Rapid who didn't leave their brain in the locker room.