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COMMERCE CITY 鈥� The last time he had seen league action this season, Marco Pappa sprained a knee ligament in an April snowstorm victory over the New York Red Bulls. On a warm evening in June when the Chicago Fire was turning up the heat, he rescued the Rapids from what was nearly an embarrassing draw with his former team.

Pappa, a creative midfielder who saw his first game action since the injury Tuesday night in a U.S. Open Cup win over the Colorado Springs Switchbacks, came off the bench into a tie game Saturday in the 83rd minute and scored on a deflection, lifting the Rapids to a 2-1 win that kept them undefeated at home this season.

Resuming Major League Soccer play after a three-week hiatus in deference to continental cup competitions in Europe and the Americas, this rust-buster was a tedious affair, matching the side that entered the game with the fewest goals allowed in the league (Colorado, 10) against the one that has scored the fewest (Chicago, 10).

“It was a long eight weeks out for the injury, but I鈥檓 glad I鈥檓 back on the field,” Pappa said. “We talked with the guys about the first game after the break, it was really important for the confidence of the team, and I鈥檓 sure everybody is happy to go home with the three points.”

With the best record in the league but missing standouts Jermaine Jones and Shkelzen Gashi (away on national team duty), the Rapids seemed content to play a patient possession game to tire out the visitors on an 88-degree evening before going for the kill in the second half 鈥� especially given that Chicago is the worst team in the league and played a 120-minute game Wednesday in the U.S. Open Cup.

The Rapids played with industry but not urgency and generated only one reasonable scoring chance in the first half, a weak header by winger Marlon Hairston that was easily handled by Chicago goalkeeper Sean Johnson in the 29th minute. Not that the visitors applied any sort of pressure 鈥� the Rapids had a 60-40 possession edge at halftime and the Fire failed to produce a shot on goal.

That may been a bit worrisome for Rapids fans at intermission. Their team clearly was rusty from the layoff. With Jones and Gashi gone, and Pappa on the bench, the lineup was pretty close to the team that finished last in the Western Conference last year.

Chicago was playing even worse, though, and Rapids striker Kevin Doyle scored in the 57th minute following a horrible giveaway by the visitors deep in their end. But yes, the Rapids were playing with Fire, and Joey Calistri equalized for the visitors in the 81st minute. Fortunately for the Rapids, Chicago defender Jonathan Campbell tried to get a leg on Pappa’s game-winner eight minutes later and redirected it past his goalkeeper.

With their ninth win of the season, the Rapids equaled their win total from last year two games before the midpoint of the season.

“There鈥檚 a long way to go, and there鈥檚 a lot of work to be done,” said coach Pablo Mastroeni. “There鈥檚 a lot of areas we need to improve, but the one thing that has stayed true the first day of preseason to today is, those guys have the type of character, mentality, to do something special this year.”

Next up for the Rapids is a road showdown Wednesday with the Los Angeles Galaxy, which lost at Toronto on Saturday night on a late goal by former Rapids center back Drew Moor.