Rapids give up lead late, lose to MLS leader Philadelphia Union

Moments away from stealing a point from MLS Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia Union the Colorado Rapids gave up two goals from Union substitute Mikael Uhre to take and double a lead in and after the th minute Coming off of a wild three-goal comeback to draw against Seattle days ago the Rapids had a shot to get a third consequence in the toughest four-game stretch they ll see this year After Colorado went up a goal in the first half Philadelphia scored three unanswered in the second half to seal it With the win Philadelphia stands atop the MLS in points in games The Rapids who have played the largest part games in the league continue to jostle for position in a tight race for the last playoff spots in the Western Conference The Rapids are winless in nine straight away games Their last away win was against San Jose on March It frustrates me that we stopped playing in the second half It s maybe four or five results this year that we have a lead especially away from home and we stop doing the things we re good at midfielder Cole Bassett explained We re playing too multiple long balls we invite the pressure and I think we need to do better at that Us as a group as leaders we ve got to continue to harp on that we can t stop doing the things that get you the lead in the first place Philadelphia had the vast majority of chances but Colorado absorbed and deflected pressure as well as it had all season before Uhre s th- and th-minute strikes stole points away In total the Union took an eye-popping shots on target It took corners all but one were beaten away by the Rapids Philadelphia tied the competition at one a piece in the th minute on a short corner where Kai Wagner exposed Tai Baribo for a simple finish at the back post Goalkeeper Zack Steffen s three goals against doesn t entirely reflect his contribution either eight saves with a pair of wonderful stops in both halves Entirely against the run of play in the first half the Rapids No Rafael Navarro scored his ninth of the season in the th minute Winger Calvin Harris bruised his way through a Union defender to win a ball near midfield then sprung a counterattack It exposed Cole Bassett on the right side of the box whose shot rang off the crossbar The rebound went straight to Navarro who scored via diving header It was the Brazilian s fourth in his last six matches and he s scoring in a variety of techniques from headers to lunging toe pokes to penalties I would like to see us create more transition If we re more compact in moments if we re more aggressive on our back line stepping in with strikers we would have created more moments Rapids coach Chris Armas revealed The times we did remain aggressive from a compact structure we were worried with those big moments Slowing down making the right decisions finding the right pass at the right moment executing at that fast tempo is not so easy That s something we perpetually work on that comes with time With certain troubling form a month ago the Rapids were teetering on the edge of ninth and th place in the Western Conference maybe just good enough for a play-in contest A four-game slate against top clubs like LAFC Vancouver Seattle and Philadelphia three of those on the road seemed on paper like the promising final blow to the Rapids playoff hopes Despite the effect at Philadelphia that s four crucial points in a span that very well could have yielded none Without them the Rapids could be as low as th but instead sit in eighth pending San Jose s impact against Real Salt Lake The Rapids will shift focus to the third-annual edition of Leagues Cup an in-season tournament between MLS and Liga MX clubs which starts at Dick s Sporting Goods Park on Thursday against Santos Laguna Colorado made a remarkable Cinderella run to the third-place tournament last year in which it beat Philadelphia at Subaru Park in penalties