COMMERCE CITY — If ever there were an evening where the stars were aligned for a Rapids victory, Saturday was it.
Colorado’s leading goal scorer, Conor Casey, returned from his stint with the U.S. national team at the Confederations Cup in South Africa. The Chicago Fire had not won in Colorado since 1999, a span of 10 games. The Rapids were 13-1 all-time in Independence Day home games.
So, naturally, they lost.
The Rapids dropped a 2-1 decision to Chicago at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park before a record crowd of 19,680. It was the Rapids’ first home loss in seven games. Overall, it was Colorado’s second consecutive defeat, having lost at Seattle last Sunday.
“Chicago was much better than us in the first period and won the game in the first period,” Rapids coach Gary Smith said. “The second half, for me, was really just an opportunity for us to save some face. We got back in the game, but the game was done and dusty for me in the first half.”
The win snapped a three- match Major League Soccer losing streak for the Fire. Chicago had not actually played a league game since June 12, because it took time off to participate in SuperLiga.
Chicago struck first on a goal by Marco Pappa in the 30th minute. In the Colorado back third, Brian McBride chested a pass out to Baggio Husidic, who tapped the ball into the box where Pappa put it away. McBride and Husidic earned assists on the play.
After a Rapids near miss, the Fire went on the attack and scored on a set piece. Wilman Conde scored off a corner kick in the 37th minute to give the Fire a 2-0 lead, which it carried into halftime. Cuauhtemoc Blanco fired the corner in, and Conde, who didn’t appear to be marked by anyone, simply jumped up and headed it in.
Both teams applied early pressure, but the Rapids’ chances were near misses. Colorado’s best chance came when Mehdi Ballouchy slammed a rocket shot off the crossbar in the 13th minute. Chicago, meanwhile, cashed in twice on seven first-half shots.
Colorado played better in the second half and got on the board in the 76th minute, when Jacob Peterson scored. Casey’s header was saved by Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch, but he couldn’t control the carom and Peterson was there to put away an opportunistic goal.
“I thought, honestly, that Conor scored,” Peterson said. “It was a good save by Busch, and it was right there. It didn’t take too much. I was in the right place at the right time.”
As for Casey, he wished he could have been better.
“I was maybe not as sharp as I would have liked to have felt,” he said. “I tried to get through it. I didn’t play as well as I liked and didn’t win the game.”
Chicago 2 0 — 2
Colorado 0 1 — 1
First half — 1, Chicago, Pappa 5 (Husidic, McBride), 30th minute. 2, Chicago, Conde 2 (Blanco), 37th. Second half — 3, Colorado, Peterson 1, 76th.
Goalies — Chicago, Jon Busch; Colorado, Matt Pickens. Yellow cards — Gibbs, Colorado, 24th; Casey, Colorado, 80th. A — 19,680 (18,086)
Lineups
Chicago —Jon Busch, John Thorrington, Tim Ward, Chris Rolfe (Patrick Nyarko, 79th), Baggio Husidic, Bakary Soumare, Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Calen Carr, 88th), Daniel Woolard (C.J. Brown, 65th), Marco Pappa, Brian McBride, Wilman Conde.
Colorado — Matt Pickens, Cory Gibbs, Pat Noonan (Jacob Peterson, 45th), Ugo Ihemelu, Conor Casey, Mehdi Ballouchy, Jordan Harvey, Kosuke Kimura (Ross Schunk, 89th), Nick LaBrocca (Greg Dalby, 84th), Pablo Mastroeni, Terry Cooke.
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
