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20 minutes, three goals, one embarrassing collapse
Random thoughts and ideas from the Colorado Rapids’ shameful 3-2 loss against the Fire on Sunday evening in Chicago.
OMAR’S FIRST GOAL: Two things went right on Omar Cummings’ goal in the first five minutes of the second half. First, Jamie Smith’s shot was difficult enough that Chicago goalkeeper Jon Busch couldn’t handle it cleanly. He had to dive to his right and slightly forward, which put him off balance and got him on the ground. Second, two Chicago defenders failed to collect the rebound and failed to get between Cummings and the goal. So with Busch out of position and the ball at Cummings’ feet, Omar had no choice but to score. No choice, really.
OMAR’S SECOND GOAL: This one was all Omar. The Chicago defenders allowed him a good look at the goal only five yards atop the box. Omar ripped a left-footed shot into the upper corner. Nothing Busch or any of the Fire players could do about it.
CHICAGO’S FIRST GOAL: When Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored on a penalty kick in the 72nd minute, a 2-0 lead on the road gave way to a 20-minute battle to protect three points. It was not a good sign.
CHICAGO’S SECOND GOAL: When Mike Banner scored in the 85th minute, the prospect of getting one point instead of three was bitter. Going from a 2-0 lead to a 2-2 tie was disappointing at best.
CHICAGO’S THIRD GOAL: When Dasan Robinson scored in second-half extra time, that single point for a tie on the road didn’t look so bad after all.
MONUMENTAL COLLAPSE: Altitude color announcer Marcelo Balboa predicted that this 20-minute comeback would prove to be the Fire’s defining moment in 2009. But what about the Rapids? How will this embarrassing display make its mark on the team? It’s clear from the standings that trading a possible three points for zero was a disaster for Colorado in the tight Western Conference. Only the team’s performance in the final third of the season will tell if the Rapids have the mettle to rebound from Sunday’s terrible collective breakdown.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Cummings.
GESTURE OF THE MATCH: After Jamie Smith curled a free kick wide in the 28th minute, a Chicago fan behind the Fire goal gave the Rapids a one-finger salute. And the television cameras captured it all.
GAFFE OF HONOR: During a discussion of John Spencer’s upcoming induction into the Rapids’ Gallery of Honor, neither Altitude play-by-play announcer Cory Lopez nor Rapids soccer ambassador Balboa knew Spenny wore No. 7.
SAVE OF THE MATCH: Was it Jordan Harvey in the second minute of extra time? Or was it Kosuke Kimura in the third minute of extra time? Either way, it’s a shame neither one turned out to have any real significance in the result.
RAPIDS STARTERS: Pickens, Harvey, Palguta, Gibbs, Kimura, Mastroeni, Smith, Peterson, LaBrocca, Casey, Cummings.
CHICAGO STARTERS: Busch, Prideaux, Brown, Robinson, Washington, Pappa, Blanco, Pause, Lowry, Rolfe, Dimitrov.
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Gutting loss. I felt such a high watching the start of the second half when Cummings silenced the Chicago fans. His second made me feel delight for capturing three road points in difficult Chicago. Then the collapse. How does Kimura give that penalty? How is Banner so unmarked? How do the Rapids not gain enough possession to prevent an injury time winner? I feel horrible just reliving it in this blog post. My fear is that this is a sign of things to come and the Rapids will once again narrowly miss the playoffs.
I did enjoy seeing Jamie Smith help on both goals. He does seem to be an improvement over an aging Cookie.
Unfortunately for me all I was able to see was the first half and the collapse. Ouch, it still smarts.
The thing that worries me is that the last MLS team to pull that sort of stunt was the Red Bulls v. DC — and we know what happened in the following months to NY…granted I think we’re better than that, but I do worry about the season spinning out of control.
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