D.C. United opened their 2007 MLS campaign in disappointing fashion on the road, suffering a 2-1 loss to the Colorado Rapids in the inaugural game at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Denver. A late United goal from Luciano Emilio was not enough to overcome first-half goals by Herculez Gomez and Roberto Brown.
With Josh Gros out with a concussion, Stephen deRoux was given the start at one wide midfield spot by United coach Tom Soehn. But the other went to Justin Moose, who appeared in just one game in his rookie season last year, a substitute outing that last just one minute.
The Rapids had the first attacking opportunity of the game in the second minute, with Greg Vanney sending Gomez deep along the left touchline. Gomez's cross bounced around the box before falling to Kyle Beckerman, whose shot went well over the crossbar.
A nice effort by Jaime Moreno in the seventh minute led to a through ball for Emilio, but Rapids 'keeper Bouna Coundoul was able to push it out of danger over the crossbar.
The two teams traded yellow cards early in the game, with Beckerman taking down Christian Gomez at midfield in the ninth minute. Ben Olsen earned a caution a few minutes later for tripping Gomez.
Gomez continued to look dangerous along the left flank for the Rapids, whipping in crosses. His effort in the 11th minute nearly found a diving Nicolas Hernandez, but Troy Perkins made a great effort to punch the ball out of play.
United had their first true scoring chance in the 12th minute. Moose played the ball to Christian Gomez at the top of the penalty area. Gomez had the time and space to unleash a hard, dipping shot that looked like it would find the net, but Coundoul was able to leap and make a great save, pushing the ball backwards over the bar.
Gomez tallied the first goal in Dick's Sporting Goods Park history in the 19th minute. He met a Terry Cooke corner kick at the top of the goal area, and completely free of his marker, nodded it down to the back post, out of reach of Perkins.
In the first portion of the half, it was obvious that the two teams had very different attacking strategies. While Colorado concentrated most of its attacks on the flanks and tried to whip in crosses, United were attacking primarily through the middle, with their wing midfielders pinching in to play quick combinations with the forwards and central midfielders.
The Rapids got their second goal in the 35th minute through a nice passing combination. Brown sent a flick to Beckerman in the area, whose pass across the goal went untouched to Cooke on the far side of the box. Cooke knocked a low pass back to Brown, who was unmarked near the penalty spot. The Panamanian international had enough time to trap the ball, square up and send a low shot inside the left post for his first MLS goal.
United nearly got one back in the 36th minute from a Brian Namoff shot that, although hit with great force, went just wide of the goalmouth. Brian Carroll had another excellent shot from distance in the 38th minute, but his lobbed effort was just punched over the bar by Coundoul.
At the end of the half, United were taking more control of the offensive flow, but were repeatedly stymied by offside violations. Their best chance of the closing minutes of the half came in stoppage time when a Christian Gomez free kick curled a few feet over the bar.
Each team started the second half much like it ended the first, with United's attacks up the middle yielding a shot from Emilio that went well over the bar in the 48th minute and the Rapids getting crosses and shots from their wide midfielders that United had no problem handling.
United, although not producing many chances through the run of play, were beginning to earn several free kicks in dangerous spots near the penalty area. The Black-and-Red earned another free kick in the 49th minute after Vanney clattered into Moose near the top of the box. Gomez's well-struck free kick made it over the wall, but was punched away by Coundoul. In the aftermath, a Namoff cross was headed just wide of goal by a diving Gomez.
After a rare United defensive breakdown in the 52nd minute, Jovan Kirovski had a clear path to goal. Namoff did well to get back and close down the angle, and Kirovski's low, skipping shot was easily deflected out of danger by Perkins.
The substitution of Fred for Moose in the 55th minute seemed to energize the united offense, causing an increase in their speed of play and the creativity of their passing combinations. But The Rapids defense seemed always to be well positioned to destroy United's attacks.
Beckerman nearly extended the Rapids lead further in the 62nd minute. His shot from 30 yards beat Perkins, but luckily for United, it was too high to find net.
The match bogged down for United in the middle of the second half, with the Rapids controlling most of possession. The substitution of Mastroeni for Kirovski in the 60th minute indicated that the Rapids were planning on playing more defensively, but they were still able to control the flow of the match continuing to attack effectively down the wings. Nico Hernandez outjumped the United defense in the 70th minute to head yet another cross from Cooke toward goal, but his effort went wide of the near post.
United seemed to momentarily break out of their offensive funk in the 77th minute, with Fred and Moreno combining well along the right wing, but Moreno's cross was easily cleared by Ugo Ihemelu. Second half substitute Kasali Yinka Casal showcased some nice dribbling in the 79th minute, taking on Prideaux, but his off-balance cross went well out of play.
Casal redeemed himself in the 80th minute when his hard-driven cross from the left edge of the box was easily headed into the back of the net by Emilio for the first MLS goal for the Brazilian.
The goal, and Casal's continued inspired play, energized United, who began to attack with more urgency, though the Rapids defense did just enough to stop United's attacks. Emilio nearly hit for the equalizer, but Coundoul was able to get down a snare his low shot ticketed for the inside of his right-hand post.
The Rapids nearly put the nail in the coffin in stoppage time as Brown slotted a ball home past Perkins, but the apparent goal was called back for an earler push by Brown on fullback Facundo Erpen. It was the last threat of the match, and United saw their winless streak in Colorado extend to eight matches (since the 2000 season), while Colorado won a season opener for the first time in club history.
Geoffrey Urland is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
