Seattle Sounders 2 Colorado Rapids 1 - Why Bother?

So, I totally had a really hilarious* game recap ready for this game in the 70th minute or so. Considering everything that had happened before, I was just going to link the recap from the last time these two teams played, nothing more than that. It was, after all, essentially the exact same game. Oscar Pareja tried once again to get too cute on the road -- this time it was trying a strange 4-1-4-1 formation with Jamie Smith getting a random start. The Rapids failed magnificently at just about everything, gave up stupidly goals on set pieces/open crosses and couldn't create an attacking chance to save their lives.

Why bother, I figured?

Then the bastards had to go and score a meaningless goal to make the game just different enough to pull that stunt. Damn.

Fortunately, it wasn't so different that this recap had to have much effort put into it. Colorado escaped 0-0 into the second half only because of some terrible misses by the Sounders offense and a couple of solid Matt Pickens saves. It looked like it was going to be a Seattle dominated second half and indeed it was.

Both Seattle goals came when Sounders players ended up unmarked in the box, with Alvaro Fernandez and Eddie Johnson being the lucky recipients. Omar Cummings ended up scoring a meaningless garbage time goal in the 79th minute but the game was over the second that first Seattle goal had been scored. This team cannot play from behind, and we're finding that out more every week. (My favorite stat continues to grow, the Rapids are 2-9-1 now when allowing the opposing team to score even once.)

Really, the big story of this one will be Steve Zakuani getting back on the field and exchanging jerseys with Brian Mullan at the end of the match. Finally putting that storyline to bed is about the only good that came out of this one.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Omar Cummings I guess?

GOAT OF THE MATCH: Both Hunter Freeman and Luis Zapata were pretty brutal all evening. Zapata especially made some terrible challenges, including one that should have been a penalty.

* Read: lazy