CHESTER, Pa. — Jaime Castrillón and Tony Cascio scored as the Rapids beat the Philadelphia Union 2-1 on Sunday.
The Rapids (2-0) played short-handed for over 36 minutes and continued their strong play after a 2-0 win over the Columbus Crew in the season opener.
Castrillón put the Rapids ahead 1-0 in the 56th minute Sunday when he corralled a loose ball in front of the net and tapped the ball past Philadelphia goalkeeper Zac MacMath.
Omar Cummings, who picked up an assist, sent the crossing pass toward MacMath, but the ball slipped through his fingers.
Colorado kept the pressure on after midfielder Jeff Larentowicz received a red card in the 58th minute. In the 62nd minute, Cascio’s goal extended the Rapids’ advantage.
Cascio capitalized on Union right back Chris Albright’s defensive miscue and ripped home the first goal of his MLS career exactly four minutes after Larentowicz’s red card.
“I never gave up on the play. I figured I’d take a shot, and it felt great,” Cascio told MLSsoccer. com. “At halftime, we just pulled it together and made the best of (the game).”
Philadelphia forward Lionard Pajoy scored in the 67th minute on a header.
“I thought we had a hard time in some periods of the first half, but we were expecting a team that was going to come flashy and overload us in the last third,” Rapids coach Oscar Pareja told . “It was a game (where) we needed to survive that storm and we did that. Defending is a good quality to have and we did it.”
The stat sheet was heavily skewed in Philadelphia’s favor — the Union outshot the Rapids 20-9 and controlled 57 percent of the possession — but the Rapids picked up three precious road points.
“We came out in the second half trying to get control of the tempo and the game and get more possession of the ball,” Pareja said. “They found a way to get the result and I’m happy for them. There are many things we need to get better at.”
The Union, which is in its third MLS season following a trip to the Eastern Conference semifinals, fell to 0-2.
The Rapids remained unbeaten (3-0-2) all time against the Union.
