Colorado hands Union first home loss of season

CHESTER, Pa. -- Despite a late flurry, the Unions aurora of home invincibility came to a crashing halt on Friday night.

With a pair of stunning first-half goals from Pablo Mastroeni and SannaNyassi, the Colorado Rapids blemished the Unions previously undefeatedrecord at PPL Park, holding on to defeat the Union, 2-1.

Were disappointed with the result, said coach Peter Nowak.Especially with the chances we had in the second half, we had enoughchances to tie the game. It was a good effort but we fell asleep inmany plays and there wasnt much rhythm in the first half.

The loss was the first at home for the first-place Union since Oct. 7,2010 against the LA Galaxy. Still holding a winning 8-5-7 overallrecord, the Unions home record moves to 5-1-4.

It sucks, it sucks to lose, said Danny Califf. There isnt a niceway to put it. I think that weve done a good job at home to bringenergy and use the fans support to make this a hard place to play.Looking back, we had the chances to come away with some points, bigchances that we didnt finish. They finished their chances.

This is our fortress and it hurts bad to lose at home.

But despite the loss, the 90 minutes wasnt all sloppy play and muffed opportunities.

Trailing by a pair of goals in extra time and down a man because of ared card to Sheanon Williams, Roger Torres collected a ball deep in theRapids box. Shrugging off the defender, the diminutive Torres gainedpossession and fired away, cutting the Rapids lead in half, 2-1.

The Union quickly played the ball back into the offensive third, whereCarlos Valdes earned a brilliant and strong header that was saved awayby Matt Pickens to preserve his teams victory.

A goal is a goal and Im happy to score, said Torres. But we didnt get the three points and we needed that part.

Sometimes you have opportunities but arent able to finish and thatswhat happened to us today. We have to improve on this situation.

The contest was one of open-ended opportunity and blown chances for theUnion, who pushed the pace and controlled play throughout. In the 26thminute, Sebastien Le Toux earned a foul at the dangerous position atopof the Rapids box. Taking the free kick in the then scoreless contest,Keon Daniel bent the ball through the wall of defenders but off thecrossbar.

Yet, the most hair-pulling chances came in the second half. In the 47thminute, when trailing by two, Michael Farfan gained the middle of theRapids box with a series of moves, only to send the prime chance highover the frame. In the 61st minute, Valdes earned a shot that made iton frame, but the ball was saved away by Pickens.

Nowak placed blame on the teams lack of finish on the absence ofstriker Carlos Ruiz, who leads the team in goals with six but is set tobe traded to a club in Mexico.

We didnt have problems in finishing when Carlos Ruiz was in the lineup, said Nowak. We missed him greatly tonight.

We had a lot of chances today in front of the goal where a guy like Carlos can finish. Its something we need to improve on.

The missed opportunities sent the Unions frustrations through theroof, in particular that of Williams. The right back, upon beingtackled violently in the offensive third with no call on the play, wentafter the linesman in animated and angry fashion. He earned a yellowfor dissent and with a second wave of his arm at the issued card,earned himself a red and ejection. Williams, who will miss Wednesdayscontest against the Chicago Fire because of red-card suspension, willlikely be replaced by Michael Farfan.

The red card changed the whole game, Nowak said.

I was five yards from the whole play and I saw the linesman wave offthe main referee. It was one of those tackles where you just scratchyour head.

On their heels for a majority of the opening half, the Rapids, insnake-like fashion, coiled back before striking the Union withoutwarning.

The first attack came In the 35th minute, off a throw-in from BrianMullan that was misplayed by midfielder Kyle Nakazawa before landing atthe feet of Mastroeni at the top of box. The Rapids midfielder, withone touch, went outside-inside on defender Carlos Valdes, opening ashooting lane in the slot and placed a perfect the ball perfectly intothe far corner, giving the visitors a 1-0 advantage.

The speedy counter strikes by the Rapids continued in the 42nd minute,when on a fast break, Omar Cummings finessed a perfect lead pass tostreaking Nyassi, who blew past Valdes and alone on the Union net,easily distributing the ball in for the 2-0 Rapids lead at the half.

That was the game plan, said Nyassi. We made sure that we stayedhigh and put pressure on them and then stayed off. In the second halfwe tried to score more goals but it didnt happen, so we tried todefend.

The Union drifted into the halftime tunnel not knowing what hit them.According to Elias Sports Bureau, the two-goal deficit was the firstever for the Union in a home game.

It was very important to get a win tonight, said Rapids coach GarySmith. Philadelphias home form has been excellent. They are very veryconfident with one or two additions from last year making a hugeimpact. It is not easy to travel the better part of four hours acrosscountry for anyone and to get a good result.

E-mail Ryan Bright at ryanbright13@gmail.com