FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The match changed well before Khano Smith condemned Colorado to its fifth match in a row without a victory, Rapids head coach Fernando Clavijo said.
Tony Sanneh limped off the field 13 minutes into the contest, altering Clavijo's tactics and shifting the focus of the game.
"We came out to attack," Clavijo said. "There was one team attacking in the first 10 minutes."
But, as Clavijo said, those plans went awry as Sanneh limped off the field.
With Sanneh and Pablo Mastroeni holding in the middle of the park, wingers Colin Clark and Terry Cooke were given license to push forward.
Sanneh's replacement, Mehdi Ballouchy, presented a more offensive-minded look to the Colorado midfield.
"It changed the momentum of the game," Clavijo said. "It took us 10 minutes to adapt after we took him off."
In Clavijo's eyes, his team never regained the momentum it had in the early stages as it attempted to stave off a Revolution side careening forward in search of the win at home.
But Colorado repelled the Revolution onslaught and limited the side's chances to deflections and long distance blasts.
"They threw more players forward, but they never really created chances," Clavijo said.
Yet Colorado also threatened infrequently, mostly through substitute Omar Cummings, and didn't look like it would be scoring either.
"It just looked like one of those games," Rapids striker Jovan Kirovski said.
Until two minutes from time, Colorado grasped a precious point.
"We did it for 88 minutes," Clavijo said. "Then we made one silly mistake."
Ugo Ihemelu, who had interceded vitally at a couple of points earlier in the contest, stepped into the role of goat after Smith snipped in front of him and shot through Bouna Coundoul's legs to give New England the victory.
"I'm disappointed," Clavijo said. "It's not what they did. It's what we didn't do."
Ihemelu claimed responsibility for the goal.
"One mistake, and you're down," Ihemelu said. "I have to take responsibility. [Revolution midfielder] Shalrie Joseph played a ball into the space. [I] thought it would go farther and it just seemed to die down on me. I misjudged it."
The loss capped a difficult week for the Rapids on and off the field. Colorado lost Herculez Gomez for the rest of the season after he tore his ACL and meniscus ligaments in his right knee during Wednesday's practice.
Clavijo said Gomez's injury was non-contact and occurred as he was reaching out for a cross.
"It's salt in the wound," Mastroeni said. "It's been one thing after another. He's a prolific striker. It'd be nice to have someone like him to play over the top on nights like tonight."
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
