COMMERCE CITY — Through the first 10 games of the season, the Colorado Rapids rarely were outworked, and they made up for an inconsistent offensive attack with a consistently stingy defense.
But having allowed six goals in their last four games, they gave a surprisingly listless performance Saturday night against what appeared on paper to be an inferior foe and were fortunate to tie the Kansas City Wizards 1-1.
Rapids coach Gary Smith lectured his players for longer than usual after the game.
“There were some things that needed to be said while the emotions were flowing,” Smith said. “There’s no doubt about it, Kansas (City) were better than us for a good period of the game, and on another day might have been out of sight. But in the end, we could have won it.”
Smith asks his team to perform “brightly,” but it was decidedly dull against an opponent with a losing record. The Wizards did manage to knock off Eastern Conference leading Columbus 1-0 on the road Wednesday, but the Rapids played like they didn’t notice.
“We were a bit flat, a bit timid,” said midfielder Pablo Mastroeni. “We need to realize the MLS is not the (English) Premiership. There’s parity because there’s a salary cap, for the most part, so anyone can beat anyone on any given day.”
The Wizards scored in the 19th minute on a play that seemed to catch the Rapids defense flat-footed. A wide-open Davy Arnaud ran onto a ball from Craig Rocastle, waited for Rapids goalkeeper Matt Pickens to commit, and found the right side of the net.
The Rapids had a great chance in the 24th minute when Colin Clark crossed a ball into the goal area that nearly found Conor Casey but was headed over the line by defender Jimmy Conrad.
Pickens made two excellent saves in the 39th minute and then got a huge break a minute later. On a bizarre play that began with referee Michael Kennedy getting in the way of a Rapids pass at midfield that Kansas City pounced on, Teal Bunbury fired a shot that hit both posts — first the right, then the left — before the Rapids were able to smother the threat.
Casey salvaged the tie in the 74th minute with a goal in heavy traffic, but in the 89th minute he faced an open goal from close range and inexplicably hit the post.
“In the end we were very fortunate to get a point from the game, and I haven’t said that in a long time,” Smith said. “I don’t have an answer. Players trained well all week; they were bright and looking forward to the challenge. We weren’t at the sort of standard that we’ve set; we fell below that. Too many people performed below par.”
Kansas City 1 0 — 1
Colorado 0 1 — 1
First half — 1, Kansas City, Arnaud 2 (Rocastle), 20th minute.
Second half — 2, Colorado, Casey 7 (Smith), 74th.
Goalies — Kansas City, Jimmy Nielsen; Colorado, Matt Pickens. Yellow cards — Palguta, Colorado, 37th; Kamara, Kansas City, 44th.
Referee — Michael Kennedy.
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
