The Colorado Rapids had their chances Saturday night against the Houston Dynamo. The Dynamo held the edge in total shots, 10-7, but the Rapids put six shots on goal compared to Houston's three.
But the game came down to a late call in the penalty area when Ugo Ihemelu was considered by referee Tim Weyland to have played the ball with a handball. Houston's Dwayne De Rosario put the resulting penalty kick into the back of the net and the Dynamo walked away with a 2-1 win.
After the game, the handball was clearly the turning point of the game -- and not something they wanted to talk about.
"Let me put it this way, as a coach, I have to decide between being fined or suspended, and I don't want to do that," said Colorado coach Fernando Clavijo. "I would allow the league people to look at the video and tell the referee. What can I say? What I say tonight won't make a difference. I thought we played hard. We came here to get three points. We worked extremely hard. It's unfortunate that someone else can dictate the end of the game."
Forward Omar Cummings said he thought Ihemelu chested the ball down, but midfielder Jacob Peterson thought it could have gone either way.
"We can't put ourselves in those situations at the end of the game," Peterson said. "It doesn't matter what I thought or what anyone else thinks. It just matters what (the referee) calls. He thought it was a handball."
Houston took the lead in the 43rd minute on a Brian Ching goal where Rapids goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul came out but failed to clear a long through ball, and Ching went right by him and tucked the ball into the empty net.
That goal plus the inability of the Rapids to turn the shots on goal into goals were problems for Clavijo.
"The only problem we had today was we couldn't get the ball in the back of the net," Clavijo said. "We played hard. We worked extremely hard. I felt the first goal was a fluke. I still have to see the first goal (on tape) and see how that happened."
Peterson thought the first goal was a fluke too, but for other reasons.
"First goal, I think it was a little fluky," Peterson said. "Coundoul will normally come out and get it for us. I think it was a little bit of miscommunication in the back to let him get in like that. It's something that happens in soccer, but I thought it was a little fluky."
Colorado tied the score at 1-1 in the 68th minute on a Cummings goal. "He pulled off his man, Christian (Gomez) opened up a space, I made a good turn and fired for the far goal," Cummings said.
The Rapids had their chances to improve to 4-3-0 on the season -- or at least get out of Houston with a point -- but instead the Dynamo snatched their first win of the year. Missed opportunities and two questionable goals by Houston will weigh on the minds of Colorado for at least Saturday night.
"We couldn't get the ball in the net," Clavijo said. "We had a lot of chances. I thought we had a lot of energy with everyone. Coming into this game, we wanted to continue adding points. We are playing against a very good team -- a team that won a championship twice.
"We felt confident that we could get results. It was an unfortunate situation. Both teams played hard, and when both teams play hard, the outcome should be decided on the field. I don't believe that was the case tonight."
Jeremy Rakes is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
