A big “thanks” to Conor Casey’s parents for neglecting to have his wisdom teeth removed as a child. His surgery prevented him from practicing with the USMNT (who won nonethless), and it was his header in the 52′ that secured the Rapids an absolutely crucial 3 points.

Basics

Soccer is indeed the beautiful game, but this was not a beautiful game on either side. Toronto created most the chances in the first half, but DeRosario was caught offside repeatedly and the timing on their attack was off. Though the Rapids created a couple chances early including a nice shot from Ballouchy, passing was chopping and the Rapids rarely seemed to have the fluidity in the final third that has characterized games like the 4-0 win versus Chivas USA 8/9/09. The only golden chance was the PK Casey hit off the crossbar in the 25′.

The Rapids found a way to get the ball in the net in the 52′ from a Peterson cross via Casey’s shiny forehead. The Rapids held off the ensuing push from Toronto over the next 10 minutes, and Omar should’ve made it 2-nil in the 79′ one on one with the goalie.

Referee Terry Vaughn wasn’t afraid to go to his pocket, sending off two Toronto players: Sanyang for two yellows and Serioux with a straight red. Sanyang’s were understandable, but the Serioux straight red was bizarre. To be fair, Omar was getting bumped all night by Serioux, but the majority of the challeges were good physical play. Vaughn had enough in the 84′ and sent him off with a red card. Yellow? Absolutely. He had been toeing the line all night. But a red for Serioux? Harsh.

[9/7/09 4pm UPDATE] Just saw a replay of the event. Ok maybe it was a red. That was fairly blatant and he was the last defender.

Bonus

Casey now has a two goal lead in the Budweiser Golden Boot competition, with 12 goals to Freddy Montero’s 10. You can vote for Casey’s goal as goal of the week here.

Bummer

Casey has performed brilliantly on PK’s, including the MLS All Star game vs (my favorite player) Tim Howard. I have to take the blame for his miss, as I leaned over to my wife and said “He’s good at these,” clearly jinxing him. Either my jinx or novacaine caused him to bang it off the crossbar.

Backtalk

This puts the Rapids just two points behind the Galaxy with one less game played. It also puts us in fifth place in all the MLS, which is key for those 4 wildcard places. However, the bad news is that there is a four-way tie for 7th in the MLS, with Fake Salt Lake, Chivas USA, New England, and DC United all at 33 points. We could easily find ourselves out of the top 8 in MLS in one weekend.

Being in the top two in the west is obviously the best way to guarantee a spot in the playoffs, do you think we can catch the Galaxy?

Major League Soccer (MLS), Rapids News and Analysis, US National Team Chivas USA, Conor Casey, DC United, Dwayne DeRosario, Jacob Peterson, L.A. Galaxy, MLS All Star Game, New England Revolution, Omar Cummings