The Colorado Rapids have had trouble scoring goals this season. Today, they scored three against the Seattle Sounders, but it wasn’t enough as the home side came back twice from being a goal down to pinch an entertaining game, 4-3.
“When you score three goals you expect to get something coming out after the game,” head coach Gary Smith said after the match. “The second-half performance started in a poor fashion. After feeling pretty good about ourselves going into halftime up 2-1. The second goal we gave up was a big dent to us.”
WATCH HIGHLIGHTS: Seattle 4, Colorado 3
The second goal for Seattle came three minutes after the break. Sounders midfielder Mauro Rosales was given space on the flank and his whipped cross was flicked in by Roger Levesque.
It was emblematic of the Rapids’ troubles on the defensive end throughout the second 45. The back four were caught high several times, allowing the Seattle attack to get behind in them.
“I think that was uncharacteristic of us,” Smith told MLSsoccer.com. “It was a decision made by the players during the game, and it is not often this group looks as vulnerable as they did today.”
The emotions were high for this match, as it marked the first visit to Seattle since the April 22 game in Colorado during which Rapids midfielder Brian Mullan broke Sounders attacker Steve Zakuani’s leg on a tackle. Mullan did not make the trip to the Pacific Northwest, but the match had plenty of bite anyway, Referee Edvin Jurisevic handed out five yellow cards.
Smith had nothing but praise for the Seattle fans and Jurisevic.
“There weren’t any problems,” he said. “There was nothing adverse towards us and they conducted themselves very well and got behind their group.” He added: “I thought the game was called really well, given the circumstance surrounding the fixture.”
Smith had no update on Conor Casey’s Achilles injury after the match, and the club has a quick turnaround this week. The Rapids play the New York Red Bulls at home on Wednesday night, followed by the New England Revolution on the weekend.
“Those are two very important games,” Smith said. “It will be difficult to pick ourselves up after giving away the lead twice today but we’ve done it before and we will do it again.”
