While the Colorado Rapids felt they had the better of the play Sunday afternoon at Pizza Hut Park, it was FC Dallas that came away with the full three points, scoring twice in the final quarter-hour of the game for a 3-1 victory.
Ramon Nunez and Jovan Kirovski traded goals five minutes apart midway through the first half, but although Colorado controlled the run of play in the second, a Nunez free kick in the 78th minute proved to be the difference, though Dominic Oduro scored a third for the Hoops in stoppage time.
"I thought we managed the game better in the second half but we just couldn't put them away," said Rapids head coach Fernando Clavijo. "We had a couple of chances but couldn't get it done. They had a good free kick and finished it well. The other one, they put a lot of people forward, tried to score and it worked."
Despite the negative result, the Rapids leave the Lone Star State with nothing to hang their collective heads about.
"I think this team has showed that Colorado is a different team," said Rapids midfielder Herculez Gomez. "This was a great opportunity to come here and catch Dallas slipping. I don't think they had the better play.
"The goals they got, we gave them to them. I don't think they earned too much," he continued. "They had a good counterattack in the first half. I'll give them that. The other two were because of mistakes on our part. We can't try to be something that we're not."
Fellow midfielder Kyle Beckerman echoed Gomez's sentiments.
"It's definitely a result that didn't come out well for us," Beckerman said. "I thought we had them on the ropes for much of the second half. We gave up a goal and after that, we were going to get the tie no matter what. So, it didn't matter if we lost 2-1 or 3-1.
"I thought it was a game that we probably deserved a tie in. It's nothing to hold our heads down about. We played well. It was hot out there. It was a result we didn't like but nothing to hang our heads about."
One positive for the Rapids was how well they controlled possession in the second half.
"I thought we did well with possession," Beckerman said. "We started knocking it really well, got them on their heels but weren't able to get that final pass and shot to score. It was decent at times but it didn't get us anywhere."
The last time Beckerman played in Frisco in MLS action, he was part of a raucous celebration on the south end of the field after the Rapids eliminated the Hoops on penalty kicks from the 2006 MLS Cup Playoffs, making him an object of scorn for many Hoops fans.
But, on Sunday, he admits he didn't hear much from the home side's cheering section.
"I didn't hear them," Beckerman said. "They were pretty weak. The adult fans are pretty weak. The kids are good but the adult fans were pretty weak. They're a weak, weak bunch."
For Clavijo, Sunday's defeat boiled down to one thing - missed opportunities.
"I think they were a little more motivated since they were coming back home and were a little sharper than we were," Clavijo said. "In the first half, we managed to keep it tight. I thought we had the better play in the second half. We had a couple of chances but didn't put them away."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
