again through Thorrington. This time Justin Mapp went on a surging run down the left, leading defenders in his wake before driving a low cross into the heart of the box for Thorrington to put first-time high into the goal.
• There were some anxious moments ahead for the home side as Colorado halved the lead two minutes later. Christian Gomez's free kick from well out on the left slipped past the wall and Tom McManus was in behind, deflecting the ball home from close range for his first MLS goal. But it was as close as the Rapids got.
• Rapids head coach Fernando Clavijo made three changes to the team that lost 2-0 to the San Jose Earthquakes the weekend before in Commerce City. Kelly Gray made his Rapids debut, coming in at right back for Kosuke Kimura. Tom McManus was handed his first start in burgundy-and-blue, coming in for Omar Cummings, and Pablo Mastroeni made his first start of 2008, replacing the injured John DiRaimondo.
• Here's Clavijo's team (4-4-1-1): Bouna Coundoul - Kelly Gray, Facundo Erpen, Stephen Keel, Jose Burciaga Jr. (Jacob Peterson 85) - Terry Cooke (Herculez Gomez 59), Nick LaBrocca, Pablo Mastroeni (Rafael Gomes 70), Colin Clark - Christian Gomez - Tom McManus. Substitutes Not Used: Mehdi Ballouchy, Omar Cummings, Kosuke Kimura, Chris Sharpe
• "It was a good game except for 10 minutes when we let down," Clavijo said. "They took advantage of our mistakes and finished. I feel we deserved a little bit better. We had the game in hand, but the 10 to 15 minutes we let down transpired and they took advantage."
TEAM NEWS
• It was the first MLS start for McManus, who last played with Dunfirmline Athletic in Scotland. McManus was on trial during the Rapids' visit to England in preseason, then signed three weeks ago. He was the most dangerous player on the field in the first half, and was credited with four shots and two shots on goal, including a snap header in the 27th minute that went right at Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch.
• "We played well and possessed well, but they are a very good team. They are coming off a loss to Kansas City at home, so we knew they come out with a lot of energy," Clavijo said. "I thought they possessed well, created chances and sent people forward. We didn't score but we were still pleased with the way we played. We need to sustain our play for 90 minutes of play like we did in the first two games and for 10 minutes we were not able and it cost us the game."
• After the game, Clavijo made a plea for examination of the way Christian Gomez is played by opposing teams, in response to a shoving match that took place between Gomez and Fire defender Gonzalo Segares just before the end of the first half. For the second week in a row, Gomez was tightly marked in the midfield and it had an effect on the Rapids playmaker.
• "I don't want to say too much because we don't want to get fined, but we are talking about protecting quality players and Christian Gomez was kicked all over the place," Clavijo said. "I don't see anybody getting yellow cards against him. I know that we have good referees in the league so I hope they are looking at the same video and the same tape we are looking at and they will protect the good players, which today was not the case."
• The Rapids were hoping to follow up their impressive 1-0 win in New England with another quality result on the road against an Eastern Conference team. The Rapids have not won more than three games outside of Colorado for the last five seasons, going 3-9-3 on the road a season ago.
• "We don't want to go back to the same habit as last year," Coundoul said to The Denver Post. "Every time we're on the road we automatically think we cannot win. The team that is going to be a champion should win home and away."
D.C. UNITED
D.C. United put a quick end to their two-game losing skid, strolling to a 4-1 victory against Real Salt Lake on Saturday evening at RFK Stadium. United still sit at the foot of the Eastern Conference with six points from five matches, a point behind the New York Red Bulls and six points out of the top spot.
LAST MATCH
• United were looking to reverse a two-game losing streak -- that started in a 4-0 thrashing by Real in Utah -- while RSL were aiming to finish off a two-game road trip with a win after falling in Toronto the week before.
• Jaime Moreno scored from the penalty spot on either side of halftime to send United on their way. In the 31st minute, Marc Burch tried to put in a cross from the left and the ball struck the outstretched arm of Dema Kovalenko as he slid to try and cut it out. Moreno converted with the cheekiest of efforts, stabbing the ball with his toe and floating it into the center of the goal as RSL 'keeper Nick Rimando dove to his left.
• Moreno converted in the 52th minute after Luciano Emilio went down after bursting into the area through the combined challenges of Chris Wingert and Carey Talley. Moreno this time drove his spot kick into the upper left corner, adding to his MLS all-time goal-scoring lead with the 35th penalty kick of his MLS career.
• United then put the game away with a pair of superlative goals. In the 67th minute, Moreno hit an inch-perfect lob to the right post where Santino Quaranta came in to volley it home with a side-foot.
• Real pulled a goal back in the 77th minute when Talley bundled home a corner flicked on by Tony Beltran at the near post, but United saved the best for last. Burch flighted a high cross from the left and Marcelo Gallardo picked it out of midair with a full instep volley from a tight angle that thundered over Rimando and defender Nat Borchers into the roof of the goal.
• United head coach Tom Soehn made two changes to the team that lost 2-1 to the Columbus Crew nine days previous. With Devon McTavish out injured, he went with three in the back, giving Dan Stratford his first MLS start in midfield. Fred returned to the left of midfield, with Marc Burch going to the substitutes' bench.
• Here's Soehn's team (3-4-1-2): Zach Wells - Bryan Namoff, Gonzalo Martinez, Gonzalo Peralta - Santino Quaranta, Dan Stratford (Rod Dyachenko 41), Clyde Simms, Fred (Marc Burch 22) - Marcelo Gallardo - Luciano Emilio, Jaime Moreno (Quavas Kirk 82). Substitutes Not Used: Jose Carvallo, Ryan Cordeiro, Franco Niell, Pat Carroll
• "I think it's important to get the result, but we still have to be hard on ourselves and know that, on the day, I don't think the soccer was good enough, especially in the first half," said Soehn. "I thought the effort was there, but we still have some things to work on. But winning is a habit and if you get a result, it's important right now for us."
TEAM NEWS
• One by-product of the switch to a 3-5-2 system was having Marcelo Gallardo begin at a higher point on the field. "We talked all week about getting involved in the attack a little bit more and pushing himself a little bit higher, and to his credit he listened, and I thought he got involved a little bit more -- he got involved in the attack a little bit more and he scored a goal," Soehn said.
• In addition, Clyde Simms was paired alongside Dan Stratford in holding roles in central midfield, with Fred and Santino Quaranta filling the wide midfield spots.
• "By having three central midfielders like that, it gives us a lot more freedom to move and play and interchange, and also have that one guy sitting in the hole in case we do get countered," said right back Bryan Namoff. "Because in the early couple of games we've seen some counterattacks and [been] on the end of some goals because of it. ... So it gives us a little bit better of a defensive shape, and if they do come at us then we'll be compact with the three in the back."
• Still, Soehn said there will be no permanent shift to the 3-5-2 system favored by his predecessor, Peter Nowak, in favor of the 4-4-2 Soehn went to early last season - a switch which jump-started United's move up the MLS table.
• "We are going to continue to try things until we feel we have a comfort level that puts guys in spots that we feel they're best suited for," Soehn said. "I think the idea of how you play stays the same and throughout a course of a game the formation changes every 10 minutes, every five minutes, so basically it's just to have the understanding."
• Soehn gave Stratford his first MLS start, but didn't last until halftime, before he was brought off for Rod Dyachenko.
• "He's done a great job in training. It's always hard for a young kid coming in for the first time especially when the team's really pushing to get a win. I told him when we took him out to keep his head up, he's been doing everything great in training and that's what gets him on the field, and he has to continue to do that," Soehn said. "We thought Rod [Dyachenko] would come in and make the soccer better, which we needed, because we weren't holding the ball enough, and we weren't getting Jaime [Moreno] and Marcelo [Gallardo] involved in the play enough. It was something we needed to do and I think Rod did a pretty decent job."
• A year ago, United opened the season with three losses and a draw while also distracted with continental competition. But once May began, so also came three wins in a row against Chivas USA, Toronto FC and Houston - and United were on their way.
• "We haven't had quality (training) sessions and you fall into bad habits, similar to last year. I still look back to last year and it took us a couple of weeks, even though we got results, it took us a couple to get to form, and I felt it was the same tonight," Soehn said. "We're still not where we need to be. We're going to work darn hard to make sure that we're going to clean up some of those things."
