The magic number is 1.
The Rapids put themselves on the brink of a playoff berth Wednesday night, brushing off a tepid start to bag two goals in the second half for a 2-0 victory over Real Salt Lake before 6,736 at Invesco Field at Mile High.
Colorado (10-13-4, 34 points) needs to pick up just one point in its remaining five games to clinch its fourth straight postseason appearance.
Jean Philippe Peguero scored his sixth goal of the season in the 49th minute and Israeli midfielder Dedi Ben-Dayan added his first for the Rapids in the 87th to doom Salt Lake to its 13th loss on the road this season.
Goalie Byron Foss made his starting debut in place of injured standout Joe Cannon and made four saves to secure the Rapids’ fourth consecutive shutout at home. Foss’ best save came on a point-blank header by forward Melvin Tarley in the 51st minute.
It put a damper on the evening to see leading scorer Jeff Cunningham walk off the pitch. He appeared to disagree with coach Fernando Clavijo’s decision to substitute him in the 53rd minute and left the field after a brief discussion.
Clavijo said the team would handle the matter internally. When asked if the striker had permission to leave the bench Clavijo said, “Absolutely not.”
Salt Lake (5-18-4, 19 points) entered the game in desperate need of a victory but could muster few moments of energy.
“They were trying to battle a little bit early on, and if they couldn’t get that first ball they were kind of disorganized,” said Rapids midfielder Eric Denton, who assisted on Peguero’s goal. “We were doing a good job of getting in the right spots.”
The Rapids never looked sure of the victory until Ben-Dayan’s goal. Terry Cooke stole the ball and crossed to Ben-Dayan, who had plenty of time to beat goalie D.J. Countess to his far post.
“I saw the player go to my left foot to block me, and I decided to go to my right,” Ben-Dayan said. “Most of the time I’m not going to my right because it is not my best. But still, I think I score a nice goal.”
The first half was about as exciting as an online belt-making class as the teams seemed to run out of creativity as they progressed into the attacking zone.
“We were pretty sure they were going to come in and just sit back,” Denton said.
Salt Lake 0 0 – 0
Colorado 0 2 – 2
First half – None.
Second half – 1, Colorado, Peguero 6 (Denton), 49th minute. 2, Colorado, Ben-Dayan 1 (Cooke), 87th.
Goalies – Salt Lake, Countess; Colorado, Foss.
A – 6,736 (27,000).
