As the old cliche goes, it was a tale of two halves Wednesday for the Colorado Rapids against Real Salt Lake.
The first half was the worst of times, filled with missed scoring opportunities and poor passing. But as Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo said, "We get up in the second half and it was a different story."
Jean Philippe Peguero's sixth goal of the season was the game-winner and Dedi Ben-Dayan, who had previously played only 79 minutes after joining the Rapids a month ago, provided the insurance with the first goal of his MLS career.
"We knew all along [Ben-Dayan] was a good player," said Clavijo. "When he first came, we were winning and it was difficult to fit him in the lineup. But we think we can work him in over the next five games and he can help us make a strong push in the playoffs."
Another set of firsts occurred in this game for goalkeeper Byron Foss who, filling in for the injured Joe Cannon, earned his first career MLS win and first career shutout in his first career start.
"Byron was outstanding today," said Clavijo. "Joe Cannon is a great goalkeeper, one of the best in the league, but we have a roster of players that all need to step up. Byron came in today and played extremely well."
In the end, Clavijo felt that some second-half adjustments were the key to the victory.
"In the first half, we were not possessing the ball very well," said Clavijo. "When Jovan [Kirovski] went up top, he gave us a little more movement off of the ball. [Terry] Cooke connected well with the forwards, and that's what we need. We need a few guys to step it up and the rest to then follow."
The win was particularly sweet for the Rapids, as it both lowers to one their magic number for clinching a playoff spot and draws them even with RSL in the competition for the inaugural Rocky Mountain Cup, awarded to the winner of the Rapids-Real season series.
Geoffrey Urland is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
