Playing with a man advantage for 72 minutes and a two-man advantage for half an hour, the Los Angeles Galaxy had the perfect stage Wednesday night to capitalize against the slumping Colorado Rapids.
The Rapids, however, had Joe Cannon.
The defending Major League Soccer goalkeeper of the year made seven saves and survived long stretches of absolute chaos as the Rapids held on for a 1-0 victory at Invesco Field at Mile High to snap a five-game winless streak.
Jeff Cunningham scored the winner for the Rapids (3-8-2) with a penalty kick in the ninth minute before referee Ricardo Valenzuela flashed red cards to Pablo Mastroeni in the 18th minute and Guy Melamed in the 60th.
The Rapids responded with their most dogged performance of the season and fought until the final whistle.
“You’ve got to give credit to all those guys out there,” Cannon said. “It was a lot of heart, and we need more of that.”
It was Colorado’s first win in more than a month, and its first over the Galaxy since July 9, 2003.
“Some of the things that happened inside the field aren’t justified,” Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo said. “It’s sad. It’s sad my players had to put out such an incredible effort to come out with three points.”
The Galaxy (7-3-2) was shut out for the third time this season and remains winless in games away from home. The Galaxy plays four of its next five games on the road.
“When you play against nine, you should win,” Galaxy coach Steve Sampson said. “We should have played better. We should have found ways to put the ball in the back of the net.
“There is no excuse good enough, when you’re playing against nine, not to come away with at least a point.”
Clavijo made four changes to the starting lineup that lost 1-0 on Saturday to the Columbus Crew, most noticeably dropping defender Ritchie Kotschau, midfielder Kyle Beckerman and striker Wolde Harris.
Luchi Gonzalez and Jean Philippe Peguero returned from injury to start in Clavijo’s 4-3-3 formation.
Cannon set up the opening goal when he sprung Peguero loose down the right side with a long goal kick the Haitian swung into the box for Cunningham. Cunningham crumpled under a challenge from Cobi Jones to earn the spot kick.
Galaxy goalie Kevin Hartman guessed correctly on Cunningham’s penalty shot, but the Rapids striker drilled the ball high into the corner for his team- leading fifth goal of the season.
Mastroeni was sent off nine minutes later for a mis-timed, studs-up tackle on Paulo Nagamura. Melamed got his marching papers on the hour mark when he lost his footing and slid into Nagamura from behind.
“I think we need a game like this to get back on track and see that if you work hard you can get three points,” Rapids defender Leo Cullen said.
Los Angeles 0 0 – 0
Colorado 1 0 – 1
First half -1, Colorado, Cunningham 5 (penalty kick), ninth minute. Second half – None. Goalies – Los Angeles, Hartman; Colorado, Cannon.
Yellow cards – Chinchilla, Los Angeles, 13th minute; Cullen, Colorado, 17th; Marshall, Los Angeles, 32nd; Umana, Los Angeles, 80th; Cannon, Colorado, 90th.
Red card – Mastroeni, Colorado, 18th minute; Melamed, Colorado, 60th.
A – 10,472 (27,000).
