Colorado Rapids midfielder Kyle Beckerman had a visceral reaction to the second minute penalty called against teammate Aitor Karanka on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.
"It hurt," Beckerman said.
The result hurt too for the Rapids as they fell 3-1 to the New England Revolution.
The home side was set on its way after referee Kevin Stott called Karanka for a boot into the face of Jay Heaps. Questions of an indirect kick were brushed aside as Karanka opened a gash in Heaps' head, meriting the penalty award. Steve Ralston converted the spot kick, sending Rapids goalkeeper Joe Cannon the wrong way.
"We've been put on the back foot," Beckerman said.
"You learn something new every day," said Rapids head coach Fernando Clavijo of the call.
Judging by the Rapids' reaction after the early penalty call, the result was not a foregone conclusion after just four minutes as the Rapids held the ball well in possession during the opening 45 minutes.
"We responded well," Beckerman said. "We had some good effort, but the quality was lacking in the final third."
Colorado carved out two chances that Revolution 'keeper Matt Reis spurned: an 18th-minute shot from Nicolas Hernandez and a 32nd-minute header by Thiago Martins.
"In the first half, we played well," Clavijo said. "We had some good chances."
The second half was a different story for the Rapids as the Revolution tallied through debutant Jose Manuel Abundis and Clint Dempsey to extend the lead to 3-0 before Beckerman scored a penalty in injury time.
In between the New England goals, the Rapids also lost Clint Mathis to a red card Clavijo called "questionable" after 65 minutes as Mathis elbowed Avery John in the jaw as Mathis slid in for a tackle.
Clavijo didn't mince words about how he felt about how the match was officiated.
"The officiating in this league needs to get better," Clavijo said. "Referees impact the outcome of the game.
"I took Pablo [Mastroeni] and Nicolas [Hernandez] off because I was afraid they would get a red card."
With the loss in New England firmly in the rear view mirror, the Rapids had the televisions tuned to the Kansas City-Real Salt Lake match as Colorado was left only two points ahead of RSL with two matches remaining after the 3-3 draw in Kansas City.
"We can control ourselves if we win all of our games," Clavijo said. "Unfortunately, we have to look to other places if we do not."
Beckerman warned that even if the Rapids scrape into the playoffs, the attacking play must improve if Colorado wishes to avoid a two-game stint in the playoffs against probable No. 1 seed FC Dallas.
"If we want to get to the playoffs and we want to do something once we get there, we need to have the effort and the quality," Beckerman said.
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
