COMMERCE CITY — This one was way harder than it should have been.
Playing against an undermanned Real Salt Lake team that came to town with a losing record, the Rapids had to come from behind to secure a 3-1 victory Saturday night before an announced crowd of 15,248 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
After falling behind in the 79th minute on a goal by wide-open RSL forward Sebastian Jaime that went totally against the run of play for the evening, Rapids left back Drew Moor nodded home a corner kick two minutes later to tie it.
Then the Rapids scored twice in stoppage time. Charles Eloundou hit the post and Jared Watts tapped in the carom for a 2-1 lead. After that backbreaker, RSL pulled its goalkeeper into the Rapids’ penalty area on a last-ditch corner kick in the final minute of stoppage time. After the Rapids cleared the corner, Juan Ramirez ran half the length of the field unimpeded with the ball and tapped the final goal into an open net.
“I think it’s a sign of what this team’s been capable of all season,” Moor said. “We finally did what we needed to do. That’s a game earlier this year that we probably come out with a 1-nothing loss or a 1-1 tie. To take the full three points is what this team is capable of, and what we should continue to work toward for the rest of the season.”
This was a big opportunity for the Rapids for multiple reasons. It was a tussle with Colorado’s biggest rival for the Rocky Mountain Cup, which has been in RSL’s possession for seven of the last eight years. The teams played to a scoreless draw last month in Utah.
It was a chance for Colorado to build momentum from last week’s win over Vancouver, only the team’s third win in 18 games. And it came against an RSL team missing three key players who are playing for their national teams in the CONCACAF Gold Cup: midfielder Kyle Beckerman and goalkeeper Nick Rimando (U.S.) and forward Alvaro Saborio (Costa Rica).
In the 31st minute, midfielder Lucas Pittinari got free on the left wing and ran onto a great pass by Vicente Sanchez. Pittinari attacked the penalty area and crossed a ball seemingly intended for striker Kevin Doyle, but RSL goalkeeper Jeff Attinella intercepted it in front of the goal.
Four minutes later, Sanchez ran onto a great ball by midfielder Marcelo Sarvas on the right wing and blasted a shot just outside the 6-yard box that Attinella blocked. Kevin Doyle jumped on the carom, but his shot was blocked by RSL right back Tony Beltran.
John Meyer: jmeyer@denverpost.com or
