Colorado Rapids beat Sporting KC 2-1, spoiling anniversary celebration

Inside the intimate Children’s Mercy Park on Wednesday, an MLS franchise once on the brink of relocation commemorated its 20th anniversary. It honored its most longstanding fans and paid homage to the inaugural season with retro warmup jerseys, videos and signage.

An evening to celebrate.

Well, everything except the result.

Sporting Kansas City lost its second straight home match, a 2-1 decision to the visiting Colorado Rapids.

Sporting KC, 4-2-0, lost only twice inside its home stadium in all of 2015. It matched that number Wednesday in front of 19,168 fans, the 74th consecutive MLS sellout.

“The game was way too slow. Our way of pushing and driving the game was terrible,” Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes said. “I thought the second half was much different. We were going after the game. We were putting them under pressure.

“But that’s the way the game should’ve started.”

The 20th anniversary went nothing like the match it honored. In its first-ever match, Sporting KC breezed past Colorado, 3-0.

On Wednesday, Sporting KC failed to register a shot on goal in the opening half and trailed twice.

After Colorado opened a 1-0 advantage in the 42nd minute, the initial equalizer arrived in the 77th minute, courtesy of Dom Dwyer. A second-half substitute, Dwyer headed home his fourth goal of the season, tying him for the league lead.

But it remained tied for only five minutes. Colorado midfielder Shkelzen Gashi surged the Rapids back in front in the 82nd minute on a rebound attempt — a sequence that started with Sporting KC midfielder Benny Feilhaber’s turnover on his own half of the field.

Searching for another equalizer, Brad Davis hit a shot off the crossbar in the final minutes.

“Once we tied it, I think (we) felt pretty good about coming back and scoring another,” Feilhaber said. “I lose a bad ball in the defensive third, and from then on, they have a good shot.

“This one’s on me.”

Sporting KC actually played a part in both Colorado goals. The Rapids’ first goal was the result of an ill-timed giveaway from Sporting KC midfielder Lawrence Olum. The turnover sprang a Colorado sprint toward goal, and Luis Solignac placed his shot in the top netting.

“When you give up (turnovers) like that, you’re going to get crushed,” Vermes said. “And we deserved to.”

Sporting KC didn’t put a shot on goal in the first half, and it didn’t force a save from Colorado keeper Zac MacMath until the 60th minute in the second half — a bit misleading, though, after striker Diego Rubio pounded the crossbar in the 47th minute.

MacMath utilized help from Gashi in the 67th minute. Gashi was the last line of defense to clear Sporting KC defender Ike Opara’s header out of danger.

“It seemed like we were slow in everything we did,” Sporting KC winger Graham Zusi said. “That pace was not indicative of how we’d like to play.”

Sporting KC didn’t operate with its top starting lineup Wednesday. Playing the second of five games in a 19-day stretch, it took an opportunity to rest Dwyer for the first time this season. In his place, Chilean striker Rubio made his first career Major League Soccer start. Dwyer played the final half hour.

Feilhaber also rested but subbed into the match to open the second half. And while Matt Besler and Davis were deemed cleared to play after no longer showing signs of the concussions they suffered, they began the match on the bench. Opara made his second straight appearance at center back but his first start in nearly a year after working his way back from an Achilles’ injury that ended his 2015 season last April.

Wednesday’s summary

RAPIDS 2

SPORTING KANSAS CITY 1

COLORADO: Zac MacMath, Eric Miller, Marc Burch, Bobby Burling, Micheal Azira, Marco Pappa (Mekeil Williams, 69th), Sam Cronin, Dillon Serna, Luis Solignac, Shkelzen Gashi (Conor Doyle, 89th), Dominique Badji.

KANSAS CITY: Tim Melia, Amadou Dia, Lawrence Olum (Brad Davis, 72nd), Nuno Coelho, Saad Abdul-Salaam, Ike Opara, Connor Hallisey, Jordi Quintilla (Benny Feilhaber, 46th), Graham Zusi, Roger Espinoza, Diego Rubio (Dom Dwyer, 57th).

GOAL SCORING

Colorado: 1, Solignac 2 (Pappa), 41st minute. 3, Colorado, Gashi 1, 82nd. Kansas City: 2, Dwyer 4 (Hallisey, Abdul-Salaam), 77th.

YELLOW CARDS

Colorado: Pappa, 33rd; Serna, Colorado, 57th; Burch, Colorado, 62nd.

Kansas City: Rubio, 52nd.

RED CARDS

Colorado: None.

Kansas City: None.

OFFICIALS

Referee: Robert Sibiga.

Assistant Referees: Sean Hurd.

Assistant Referees: Jason White.

4th Official: Nima Saghafi.

Attendance: 19,168.

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 9:45 PM with the headline "Colorado Rapids beat Sporting KC 2-1, spoiling anniversary celebration."