The Colorado Rapids gave a valiant effort, but came up short in falling to the Arsenal Reserves 2-1 Thursday morning at the Arsenal Training Centre. It was the club's first loss of the 2008 preseason.
Playing their second game in as many days, the Rapids faced a very strong Arsenal Reserve side that featured such First Team members as Gilberto, Robin Van Persie, and Theo Walcott.
Colorado had the contest's first opportunity to strike in the fifth minute off a Ciaran O'Brien set piece as Nico Colaluca gathered his service and missed the target just wide. The Rapids were able to continue their offensive pressure for the next several minutes, but could not find the net.
Goalkeeper Justin Hughes, who kept the visiting club close the entire game with key saves, came up with his first on a break-away in the 12th minute to set up a corner for the Arsenal Reserves. The Arsenal Reserves were able to capitalize on their opportunity and notched the first goal of the game on a header from the corner service to go up 1-0.
The Rapids had their best chance of the first half in the 30th minute when forward Jovan Kirovski found himself with the ball in the middle of the box, but a save from Lukasz Fabianski was able to hold the score at the break.
In the second half, Colorado came out the gates quickly with midfielder Terry Cooke and forward Tom McManus playing some beautiful one-touch passes that only a diving Fabianski could stop from tying the score in the 48th minute.
The Arsenal Reserves gave themselves a little breathing room in the 66th minute when they scored to lead 2-0.
The Rapids were able to chip away at Arsenal's advantage in the 87th minute, as McManus played a ball into midfielder Colin Clark, who was able to strike it home, leaving the final score 2-1.
The Rapids will continue their training in London the next two days before heading back to Colorado on Sunday.
Scoring Summary:
ARS - 12
ARS - 66
COL- Clark (McManus) 87
Lineups:
Colorado Rapids: Justin Hughes, Kosuke Kimura (Dan Gargan 45, Mike Petke 68), Cesar Zambrano (Facundo Erpen 45), Jordan Harvey (Stephen Keel 45), Tim Ward (Jose Luis Burciaga Jr. 45), Jacob Peterson (Terry Cooke 45), Nick LaBrocca (Brian Grazier 45), Ciaran O'Brien (Rafael Gomes 45, Ciaran O'Brien 79), Nico Colaluca (Colin Clark 45), Herculez Gomez (Tom McManus 23), Jovan Kirovski (John DiRaimondo 45)
