Chivas hope to use win as springboard

CARSON, Calif. -- Saturday's victory against D.C. United might have held within it a sign of things to come for Chivas USA.

One goal opened up the floodgates as the Red-and-White beat United 3-1. Now, the club hopes that one win will also have a similar effect on their upcoming matches.

"Now is an important time," Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan said. "We've moved a few points closer to first place and it's a time where if we win two or three games in a row we can put ourselves in first place just with how the Western Conference has been going so far. We've just got to play with confidence right now."

Confidence was something the club had been lacking. A 1-4-2 record had contributed to the decline in self-belief. Injuries and a sieve-like defense also played a role in the team's slow start.

But when the club finally found a bit of what brought the team success a year ago, everything seemingly clicked instantaneously.

"When the first goal came, I really felt that we could score a second or a third just with our momentum and that's what happened," Kljestan said. "Atiba (Harris) did well on all three goals. We caught some lucky bounces but give credit to him for fighting his butt off."

Against D.C. United, Chivas USA did well to turn the tide that had plagued the team this year. D.C. became the sixth team to score first against Chivas USA this season, but unlike the other five games, the Red-and-White finally came from behind to post a victory.

It was the first-ever such victory for the club, but perhaps more importantly it gave the club a possible glimpse into the future by taking a page out of the past.

"We've seen what we can do when we can move the ball," Kljestan said. "In the second half we moved the ball real well and kind of got back to the way Chivas plays. That was Chivas out there."

Now, the club will prepare for the Colorado Rapids. Whether or not Chivas USA can regain any of its injured players back for the match will be played out this week. Defenders Shavar Thomas and Claudio Suarez and forward Maykel Galindo appear the most capable to regain their health.

Still, regardless of who plays and who is not healthy enough to make the trip to Colorado, the groundwork for success has been laid out, though it was not exactly followed on Saturday.

"Our team to be successful, we need to play with leads. That's what we're good at," Chivas USA midfielder Jesse Marsch said. "When we get a lead, we can start knocking the ball and opening the other team up, then we can get the second and the third goal and the whole bit. That part was good and it felt like our old team."

United hopes to shake road woes

Dynamo settle for draw with Chivas

Davis: Second step tougher

Individuals and teams continually confront a hard reality when it comes to getting past sticking points: maneuvering past the first step isn't easy, of course, but it's a piece of candy compared to what comes next.

Achieving the next level is even more troublesome and demanding.

Look at Robbie Rogers at Columbus. Look at how hard he's obviously worked to establish himself as a presence in MLS. Mission accomplished! Well done, young man!

Now, if you can kindly push the tempo even more, pour even greater effort and heart into future outings. Never mind the extra attention and kicks to the shin that you'll now receive from opposing defenders. And please ignore the significant undertow of heightened expectations. Sound OK? Thanks.

Rogers' five goals in eight matches have provided a huge boosts as Columbus, without a playoff appearance since 2004, is suddenly all that in MLS. But it's going to get tougher on the U.S. winger, who only last week reached his 21st birthday.

Last Saturday in Toronto, the fastest man of the BMO bunch, Marvel Wynne, made sure that Rogers had a quiet afternoon. With Toronto's right back concentrating on keeping Rogers in check, the teams played to a 0-0 draw.

The good news for Rogers: opposing defenses also have to worry about Crew teammates Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Alejandro Moreno. The bad news for Rogers: he'll soon be the target of ever more transfer speculation, which will test his ability to block out blaring distraction.

Ask Jozy Altidore about how tough that can be sometimes.

Some other sticking points and "next steps" around MLS:

• Real Salt Lake and Colorado have proven they can hold their own at home. But they'll have to reach deeper and be more confident on the road.

Jason Kreis' team has taken the first step to greater competitiveness by guarding the home grounds; RSL is unbeaten at Rice-Eccles this year with two wins and two draws and a plus-5 goal difference. Away from Utah, the side has lost all four and faces an ugly minus-8 goal difference.

Colorado has made its Commerce City home a little bit of a fortress early in 2008, allowing just two goals in posting a 3-1-0 mark. Fernando Clavijo's men haven't been as good away from Dick's Sporting Goods Park -- although there is evidence that they aren't far away from righting matters. The Rapids have been quite competitive in one-goal losses at Kansas City, Chicago and Houston.

• The LA Galaxy certainly aren't hurting for offense, with 19 goals in eight matches. At that pace (2.375 per outing) Ruud Gullit's men will land at about 71 goals -- which would mark the best MLS output since 1998.

On the other hand, the Galaxy must zip up that defense a little tighter. In Sunday's ambush in Frisco, a 5-1 Galaxy victory, FC Dallas missed numerous chances to get back in the match, threatening to make it another old-fashioned Texas shootout (like the 6-5 doozy in last year's SuperLiga).

But Gullit is advising fans and media to stop picking solely on his defenders. He agrees that the Galaxy has ample room for improvement, but says defensive betterment is needed front to back.

"I tell you, it's not all defense," he insisted with a smile, but in a tone that suggested he was losing in the battle to convince people. "It all starts before that. If teams have easy access, like the last goal against New York, where they have access all up the middle and can just run, what do you want from the defense?"

In that one, New York's Dane Richards was allowed to run about 50 yards with the ball before releasing it to Juan Pablo Angel, who rounded L.A. goalkeeper Steve Cronin and scored in the empty net.

"Then, the defenders have to make choices, and sometimes they make mistakes, but it's not their mistakes," Gullit said.

• Clearly, the next step in San Jose, where Frank Yallop's defense is increasingly leaky but still the side's better half, is scoring more goals. The Earthquakes are on pace to reach historic lows in offensive output.

Yallop's men are on pace to score about 17 this year, which would easily be the all-time low. Toronto FC currently holds the dubious mark, netting just 25 in its expansion campaign.

It won't be easy for Buck Shaw brigade. Ronnie O'Brien is arguably the top offensive talent. But he's a lifelong set-up man, always better at arranging goals for others than at scoring himself -- which is a little odd considering his ability to strike powerfully from distance. He has 13 MLS goals to go with 40 assists.

Also working against San Jose is this: Ramiro Corrales is toiling admirably as a central midfielder. But he's really a defender disguised as a linkman, and he doesn't provide much offensive punch going forward. Ned Grabavoy is the Earthquakes' attacking midfielder. But he's never quite figured out how to translate some of that smooth skill into match production; the U.S. midfielder has five goals and 12 assists in 77 career MLS contests.

• In the nation's capital Tom Soehn and Co. are searching desperately for answers, still trying to take the first next step, which is as obvious as a boot to the face: the 2007 Supporters' Shield winners need to get off the mat and start playing better. How far behind have they already drifted in the playoff chase?

In MLS, the magic number for points is right around 40. Climbing to the 40-point plateau gives a side a chance, at least, of stamping their postseason pass. United currently have six points from eight matches.

That means the Beetles (ya know ... they are sponsored by VW now) need about 34 points from the remaining 22 matches. Translation into Win-Loss-Tie language, that's something like 9-6-7 or 10-8-4. So, the men from D.C. are hardly out of it ... but they had better push the pedal and get that little VW Beetle moving fast.

TACTICAL CORNER:

Ruud Gullit is no slave to any one system. That's obvious.

He started his days in L.A. by aligning the Galaxy in the Dutch version of a 4-3-3. When that didn't fit, he adopted a more standard 4-4-2.

But he cooked up something a little special for the Galaxy's latest visit to Texas, where the tactics proved spot-on in Los Angeles' big win 5-1 Sunday against FC Dallas. (Road teams have won by four goal margins or more only 25 times in league history.)

The Galaxy used a hybrid formation, crossing the 4-3-3 with the 4-4-2 and coming out with something that obviously rocked Dallas.

Gullit was eager to get healthy-again Alvaro Pires back in the lineup, since Pires "holds" at holding midfielder better than L.A.'s other choices. So Gullit put Pires there, and then aligned Joe Franchino and Brandon McDonald in central roles in front of him.

David Beckham played on the right, as a midfielder/forward with latitude to go, well, pretty much anywhere. Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle were up front.

What does that leave? Uh, oh, yes ... the left!

Who was on the left?

That's just it. The Galaxy essentially played without a left-sided guy. Franchino was tasked with drifting left should the need arise. But Dallas had Andre Rocha as the right-sided presence in the Hoops' 3-4-3, and the young Brazilian is really out of place as an outside guy. So, he drifts inside frequently and rarely tries to exploit the wide areas and crossing channels.

Gullit recognized this and was thus able to get an extra man into the middle, essentially playing three central midfielders against Dallas' two.

On the right, Beckham's drifting and floating gave Dallas trouble immediately. FCD manager Steve Morrow had assigned young Anthony Wallace to essentially man-mark Beckham. When the England international went inside or remained in a more defensive position, it exposed a big gap on Dallas' left flank and forced FCD defenders to adjust quickly.

Yes. Beckham became a multi-million dollar decoy. And happily so, according to the man himself and his boss. The Galaxy scored five goals, and not one came officially from Beckham or Landon Donovan. (Although an own goal came off Donovan's cross/shot.)

"It was a tactical move that we had to do," Gullit said afterward. "And tactically, they [Dallas] played exactly the game that I expected from them. Sometimes, you are not in the headlines, but it is necessary to do these things to win. And also, they [Donovan and Beckham] are happy, because if you win like that, they are happy to do it. It's OK for somebody else to profit. That is good."

Buddle adds dimension to Galaxy

Galaxy looking for scoring balance

Buddle adds dimension to Galaxy

FRISCO, Texas -- After a tough 2-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls at The Home Depot Center last Saturday, the Los Angeles Galaxy went back to work. Sunday afternoon, all that work paid off as LA had four-goal edge by the 39-minute mark and strolled to a 5-1 victory against FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park.

Edson Buddle led the visitors with a hat trick while L.A.'s other goals came from Chris Klein and an own goal from FCD defender Duilio Davino, who deflected a Landon Donovan cross past goalkeeper Dario Sala.

"I think that the team played excellent," Galaxy head coach Ruud Gullit said. "The gameplan worked. The key for us was David (Beckham) going outside and we also got Alvaro (Pires) back, which was important. Putting them in the right positions made it very difficult for them to play their game. We could play our game and I think the first half was excellent. It boosted our confidence."

With Alan Gordon out with a hamstring injury, Buddle got the chance to return to the lineup and it was an opportunity that he took advantage of. Coming into the game, while the Galaxy led the league with 14 goals scored, just three players had contributed to that total: Donovan (eight), Beckham and Alan Gordon (three each)

"Edson did really well for us today and it was great for us," Gullit said. "Many people think that only David and Landon can score for us. But last week, it was Gordon and today it was Edson. That means that we have various players now who can score goals and that's good."

Gullit rolled out a modified formation that looked more like a 4-5-1, a free-flowing setup that gave Beckham and Donovan a great deal of freedom. The tactical switch gave the Hoops a great deal of trouble all day.

"He (Beckham) had a lot of freedom and played more on top," Gullit said. "I think that worked very well because they didn't know what to do with him. He did a lot of sneaking in behind the fullbacks. That creates problems for the opposition, so we tried to do things that would make his game better than before. We worked hard on that in training and I think today was a good exhibition of that."

In the 75th minute, Beckham was tackled hard by FCD defender Adrian Serioux, who was summarily sent off by referee Baldomero Toledo. After the infraction, Beckham rose to his feet and gave Serioux a shove.

"No, (it wasn't an overreaction on my part) because it was a terrible tackle," Beckham said. "I could've broken my leg. I think that was a bad tackle personally. He told me, 'Welcome baby, welcome.' These tackles happen in soccer and we don't want them in soccer but this is a man's game. You have to get up, play on and get on with the game. We did after that."

After starting his first two games of the season, Buddle started for a third consecutive week in the 2-2 draw against Real Salt Lake. But a hamstring injury forced him off the field after just 12 minutes, which kept him out of last weekend's loss to New York. He returned to the team with a vengeance.

"Today, we were able to find each other early and move the ball well," he said. "We played a little bit differently today as far as our formation. We used that very well today and want to continue that on the road, which is tough. They just wanted me to stay busy, active and in motion. If I did that, they told me that the ball would always seem to find me."

Gullit was also pleased with how well his team defended as a whole. Coming into the week's matches, the Galaxy had allowed 15 goals, tied with Chivas USA for the most in the league through seven weeks.

"You start defending up front," he said. "If you make mistakes up front and don't track back, then you will give up goals. I think it was a better overall performance from the team to defend and was a compliment to the team. They worked very hard but it all starts up front. We forced them to make mistakes and when we had the ball, we had the composure."

With the win, the Galaxy now move into second place in the Western Conference with 11 points, just one behind first-place Colorado. The loss dropped FC Dallas from second to fourth place in the table with nine points, one behind the Houston Dynamo.

"I think it was an important game for us, especially after we lost the last one at home," Beckham said. "We came into this game refreshed and ready for it. We organized all week and prepared all week for this game because we knew how good they were and how they played.

"I think we started off well. In the first half especially, we played some good football and kept the ball well. The two saves from Steve Cronin just before we scored our goal were very important because we've had games where we've played well but haven't been able to get a goal. So, it was important that we kept a clean sheet and then we broke away for the goal. Overall, it was a good game for us."

Galaxy looking for scoring balance

Galaxy attack explodes in rout of FCD

Despite easy win, Nicol not pleased

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- On a night where his team couldn't have looked more comfortable if each starter had a recliner to rest on during the game, New England Revolution head coach Steve Nicol wasn't pleased after his team's 2-0 victory against the San Jose Earthquakes.

"I thought in the second half, as good as we were the first half, I thought we were as bad the second half," Nicol said.

Of course, his team had done just about everything that it needed to do in the first half. Kheli Dube scored his first MLS goal in his first MLS start and former Revolution defender James Riley headed past Cannon to give the Revs a 2-0 lead at halftime.

"Shalrie didn't get a good touch on the ball, so it just happened that it just came to me," Dube said of his inaugural marker. "I had to make sure to finish it."

The Revs were dominant in the first half, spraying balls around the field and pinning San Jose back inside its own half. But the team wanted a third goal to try to seal the contest.

"We were talking about it at halftime," Parkhurst said. "That third goal is extremely important; if they got it, we would have gone down 2-1, and it's a whole new game. We were really trying to get that third goal in. We weren't sitting back and we wanted to score some goals for our fans and continue to play well."

Nicol didn't think his side came out as well in the second half as San Jose tried to push forward in search of a goal to get back into the game. Yet the Revolution defense didn't yield any shots on goal, even though Ramiro Corrales rang the crossbar just before the match headed into stoppage time.

Parkhurst said the midfield did a good job of closing down the Quakes midfielders, breaking down attacks before they reached the Revolution penalty area.

"The guys in front of us did a good job of protecting us and cutting down passes and really dominating the midfield and making our life a lot easier in the back," Parkhurst said.

Even though the team didn't get the goal it wanted in the second half, Dube said the team can take some momentum from the easy win.

"The good thing was that everybody kept on working hard," Dube said. "Even if things weren't coming our way, we kept on working hard and didn't concede a goal which is good for the team. It's just going to help us go into the next game with our heads high."

Revs searching for consistency

Revs’ early offense dooms Quakes

FCD can't find answers for Galaxy

FRISCO, Texas -- On paper, this was supposed to be the week that the struggling FC Dallas attack finally scored some goals, facing a Los Angeles Galaxy team that had allowed the most goals in MLS entering the round of games.

Well, the visitors never got the memo, exploding for four goals in the first half and sending a record crowd at Pizza Hut Park away disappointed as they rolled to a 5-1 victory Sunday afternoon.

"It's an embarrassing performance," FCD head coach Steve Morrow said. "We're all very much ashamed of ourselves in the locker room. Ultimately, I'll take responsibility for that as a coach."

The Galaxy's Edson Buddle hit for a hat trick and L.A. also got a goal from Chris Klein and an own goal courtesy of FCD defender Duilio Davino. The Hoops got their lone tally of the match in the 54th minute when Dominic Oduro headed home a great cross from Kenny Cooper.

"We were running too much and playing too little," FCD midfielder Pablo Ricchetti said. "We just need to hold possession but we can't do that right now. We need to get better as a team. We played pretty badly as a team and I think it's the worst I've seen us play since we've been here."

For much of the day, FCD was not good at maintaining possession and for the most part, the ball wasn't moving through the midfield on a consistent basis.

"There was nothing missing (in the midfield)," Morrow said. "We've just got to get back to hard work and we'll do that on the training field. We're confident, believe in ourselves a lot and what we're doing. We're confident that we'll turn it around."

With the loss, the Hoops remain winless in the month of May. And with Real Salt Lake coming to visit on Saturday, who handed FCD a 2-1 loss last weekend at Rice-Eccles Stadium, followed by a visit from Houston the following Wednesday, a side the Hoops have only beaten once at home, prospects for finishing May winless are very real.

"We're going through a rough time at the moment and results aren't going our way," Morrow said. "We'll get back to some hard work. We've got a good group of talented players and a group that has the right attitude who will fight for each other. We'll work hard to put ourselves right and to get a win in the next game."

FC Dallas will go into the RSL game without starting center back Adrian Serioux, after the Canadian international was sent off with a straight red card in the 75th minute after a hard tackle on L.A.'s David Beckham in front of the Hoops bench.

"It's an interpretation of the referee and he went with what he saw," FCD midfielder Pablo Ricchetti said about Serioux's expulsion. "That didn't change the game. It was decided in the first 45 minutes."

After surrendering just five goals in their first five matches of the season, the FCD defense has become a bit porous in the last two weeks, allowing seven goals in losses to RSL and the Galaxy.

"All 11 of us were responsible for the goals," Ricchetti said. "It's not about one player because as a team, we all played badly and didn't reach the level we wanted to."

For FCD, it was the first time they have allowed four or more goals in a game this season, something they did three times last season. The last time the Hoops surrendered five goals in a league match came on Oct. 14, 2006, when they dropped their regular season finale to the Galaxy 5-2 at The Home Depot Center.

Ricchetti reinforced that FCD's current problems aren't because of a rumor pertaining to a lack of harmony in the locker room.

"No, we are good," he said. "The issue for us is that we are playing badly. We are calm but resolve everything internally. The main issue right now is that we're not playing well and that isn't a reflection of anything that's going on inside (the locker room)."

Hoops struggling to regain form

Galaxy defense looks to step up

Hoops hoping to reignite attack

Crew show toughness in earned draw

TORONTO -- After five consecutive victories, it was perhaps inevitable that the Columbus Crew were due for a less-than-stellar game. Such a performance took place on Saturday afternoon in Toronto, but the bright side is that the team salvaged a 0-0 draw in spite of being outpaced for most of the game.

"They pressed the issue on the game and I think we were just solid defensively and stayed compact," said defender Frankie Hejduk. "They had most of the possession but the bottom line is we did what we had to do on the road to get a point. Hats off to them, they had a good game -- but we played well also."

Battling the Reds, the energetic and streamer-throwing BMO Field fans and the windy elements, the Crew was held to a clean sheet for just the second time in seven matches. The only other goalless outing for Columbus was their lone loss of the season, a 2-0 defeat by New York on April 5.

Columbus' top attackers (midfielder Robbie Rogers and forwards Alejandro Moreno and Guillermo Barros Schelotto) were limited to a combined four shots, with Rogers' 24th-minute attempt ending up as the Crew's best chance of the game. Rogers found a hole in the Toronto defense and found himself with some space on the left side of the box. He had both his defender and Reds goalkeeper Greg Sutton off-balance, but his shot was cleared off the line by TFC defender Tyrone Marshall.

Schelotto had one shot on goal himself, but his most notable moment of the match might well have been his yellow card in the 90th minute for diving. Toronto FC coach John Carver felt Schelotto was exaggerating throughout the entire game, calling his play "not honest and professional."

Columbus head coach Sigi Schmid, unsurprisingly, disagreed with Carver's remarks.

"Guillermo is a very competitive individual who plays with a lot of passion and fire. He felt he got fouled a couple of times and it didn't get called, and it plays with that emotion but that's what makes him a good player. He and I will deal with it, but, you know, I appreciate John's comments, but he needs to leave me to worry about my guys.

"There was certainly a play that occurred in front of our bench where [Schelotto] got fouled and he didn't get the call, probably because he had complained about some calls before. That's not right either, but it's one of those things that happens all the time."

Schmid said his club wasn't truly playing for the draw until the final few minutes, but admitted that "offensively, it wasn't our best game."

The game was short on breakthrough opportunities as the Crew often found themselves soaking up the pressure under an aggressive TFC attack. It forced the attack-minded Crew to play more of a defensive game than they are normally used to, but goalkeeper Will Hesmer sees his side's ability to adapt as a good thing.

"We're committed to winning games no matter how we have to win them," Hesmer said. "It's a hard game, an ugly game that we'll play hard -- if teams want to open up and play, we'll open up and play. I think we're just committed to whatever we have to do to win the game."

The draw ensures that the Black-and-Gold will leave the weekend with no less than a tie for first in the overall MLS table, though a Chicago win on Saturday night would tie the Fire with the Crew at 19 points, and Columbus would fall to second place on goal differential.

Columbus now has four points out a possible six this season against Toronto, after their 2-0 win against the Reds in Columbus on Opening Day. Given the hostile territory that is BMO Field (TFC is now 2-0-2 at home this season), the Crew are happy to escape with a classically defense-first away performance.

"They had the better of the ball, but we defended like [warriors] and made it tough for them," Hejduk said. "I think we frustrated their fans and frustrated them a bit, and that's what you want to do on the road."

Yallop not ready to make changes

Stoic Moreno providing Crew big lift

Rapids take command of West

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. -- With a first-place berth and first blood in the Rocky Mountain Cup both on the line, the Colorado Rapids hit for two goals in the final half-hour of the match to claim a 2-0 victory against arch-rival Real Salt Lake on MLS Primetime Thursday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Omar Cummings finally broke the tense deadlock with a goal in the 65th minute, then Christian Gomez converted a penalty kick with seven minutes to go to put the game away as the unceasing offensive attack by the Rapids finally broke through.

The initial minutes of the game saw each team have good possession through the midfield, but each defense looked well organized, disrupting any attack that began to look dangerous.

The first good chance of the game came 14 minutes in. Jacob Peterson's shot was deflected dangerously by RSL fullback Chris Wingert into the path of Cummings at the top of the goal area, but the ball spun just out of reach of the Rapids forward.

That initial chance seemed to bring the game alive, as Real had their first chance just after. Some nifty footwork on the ball by Fabian Espindola opened up some space at the corner of the penalty area. Utilizing it fully, Espindola took a quick, curling shot, but Rapids 'keeper Bouna Coundoul easily gobbled it up.

Two former Rapids nearly made good things happen for Real in the 18th minute, as Wingert received a back pass from Espindola and sent in a nice cross that looked destined for Kyle Beckerman's head. Coundoul, however, was able to charge out of the goalmouth to punch the ball out of danger.

Cummings nearly put the Rapids up in the 23rd minute. His hard header of a Christian Gomez corner kick went straight down and took a hard, wicked bounce up toward the net, but Salt Lake 'keeper Nick Rimando was able to make the quick reaction save to push the ball up and over the net.

Salt Lake had another chance from outside of the box in the 29th minute, when after a long string of good passes Beckerman took a low, hard shot from the outside of the box, but it was aimed right at Coundoul.

RSL nearly scored again in the 30th minute. Dodging streamers thrown by the Rapids supporters, Andy Williams took an outswinging corner that was perfectly placed for Matias Mantilla, but the tall fullback's powerful header went well wide of the net.

Real had another great chance off of a corner in the 42nd minute. Scottish forward Kenny Deuchar headed the ball down toward the corner of the net and looked to have Coundoul fooled, but Kosuke Kimura contorted his body to head the ball back away from the goalmouth before falling back into the net.

The Rapids began the second half on the attack, having two nearly identical dangerous chances only minutes apart. In each case, Colin Clark made a good run down the left flank, breaking free before sending a hard cross across the face of the goal. Luckily for RSL, no Rapids forwards were able to keep up with the play and in both cases the ball skipped harmless through the penalty area.

Clark nearly put one in himself in the 54th minute, running on to a cross from Peterson, but he was unable to get it on frame.

As a steady rain began to fall, the Rapids continued to attack and create good chances. In the 60th minute, Herculez Gomez played a low cross to the front of the goal which Cummings met, sending a powerful header just wide of the net.

Another good opportunity for the Rapids came minutes later. After some good combination play between Cummings, Peterson, and Christian Gomez, Gomez sent a pass back to the onrushing Pablo Mastroeni. He was jostled just enough by Dema Kovalenko on his shot attempt to send it above the goal.

The Rapids attack finally found a way through in the 65th minute. Christian Gomez sent Clark down the line, where he sent in yet another low ball across the box. This time, Cummings was there to meet it, and his redirection caromed off of Rimando's leg and up into the net for Cummings' third goal on the season.

Real sought to inject some life into their offense by substituting Robbie Findley into the game for Kenny Cutler. But the move initially seemed to improve the Rapids offense more, as Cutler had been shadowing Christian Gomez all game. With his nemesis off of the field, Gomez had much more time and space to direct the midfield.

The Rapids nearly got another in the 76th minute. Cummings used some nifty moves to beat Nat Borchers along the touchline. His cross was cleared right to Peterson, who passed it to Herculez Gomez at the penalty spot. Gomez's redirection, however, went just wide of the net.

Salt Lake kept valiantly fighting, earning a corner kick that nearly led to the tying goal in the 78th minute. The Williams service to the far post curled away from the goal to Deuchar, whose header beat Coundoul but went just over the net.

The Rapids scored their second in the 83rd minute. Mantilla was called for handling the ball while trying to prevent Herculez Gomez from dribbling into the box. Christian Gomez struck the resulting penalty hard to into the left of the goal, giving Rimando no chance and scoring his second goal on the season.

Real nearly got one back in the 89th minute off of a free kick. Espindola took the shot from 20 yards out and hit it hard and low past the wall, It took an amazing save from Coundoul to keep Real off of the scoreboard.

The game ended just after, putting Colorado atop the West and giving them a leg up in the Rocky Mountain Cup standings -- and keeping Real Salt Lake from claiming first place in the conference for the first time in club history.

Dynamo earn first victory of 2008