Rapids give up second-half goal in 2-1 loss to Philadelphia Union, remain winless at home in MLS play

COMMERCE CITY — In a week that started off so well for the Colorado Rapids, it all boiled over late Saturday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

A 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Union took a turn in stoppage time, with a shoving match between both teams breaking out after Michael Barrios sprinted for a ball that went out-of-bounds for a goal kick and pushed Union goalkeeper Andre Blake to the ground. Even Rapids goalkeeper William Yarbrough joined the fray from the other end of the field.

It ended in a red card for Braian Galván and, not long after, another home loss for the Rapids — just days after they won at Sacramento Republic FC in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32.

Colorado (2-4-6, 12 points) is winless in MLS play at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park this season, with the only win at home this season coming in the second-round of the U.S. Open Cup.

It was the first time Colorado played since midfielder Max Alves was removed from team activities after he was implicated in an alleged match manipulation scandal. As a result, the Rapids did not set up like-for-like as Jonathan Lewis slid in centrally, while Connor Ronan and Danny Leyva were double-pivots in central midfielder.

Philadelphia had a pair of disallowed goals on corner kicks in the opening 15 minutes. A first was waived off after a ball went out of touch before a potential cross came in that was eventually knocked in. The other came as a Union attacker pushed Andreas Maxsø and the referee called it off before the ball was in the back of the net. Shortly after, Julián Carranza was played in on goal as William Yarbrough was off of his line, but he placed his shot into the side netting.

Colorado got into the match at roughly the half-hour mark. In the 37th minute, a ball was played to Diego Rubio, who took a touch and was taken down. Initially, referee Victor Rivas pointed to just outside the penalty spot. However, Video Assistant referee intervened and reversed the call to make it a penalty shot.

Ronan stepped up to the spot and placed a shot into the top-left corner that Blake was unable to save despite diving the right way. It was Ronan’s first goal as a member of the Rapids and it came one week after he made MLS’ Team of the Matchweek for a three-assist night at the LA Galaxy.

However, Philadelphia responded. After a Union build-up in the second minute of stoppage time, Carranza played a pass to Kai Wagner, who struck it perfectly into the bottom-right corner to beat Yarbrough from 23 yards away to level the score.

In the second half, Philadelphia took the lead in a classic Union counterattack. After Colorado lost out on a pass while attacking, the Union quickly went the other way with it. In the 52nd minute, Oliver Mbazio received a pass and was onside in the build-up and sent in a cross to Carranza who made up for his previous miss with a well-struck shot that took a deflection and went in to give Philadelphia a 2-1 lead.