Minnesota United shut out 1-0 by suddenly surging Colorado

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – Minnesota United was originally scheduled to play at Colorado in mid-July, but the game was moved up before the start of the season.

The Loons probably wish the game was moved up to March when the Rapids were struggling.

Colorado entered Saturday near the bottom of the MLS' Western Conference standings but continued its climb with a 1-0 victory at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The Rapids are 4-9-3, with all four victories coming in the four matches since interim coach Conor Casey took over on May 1.

Minnesota United (6-7-3) is going in the opposite direction. The Loons have lost three in a row and four of five, and not even a little animosity that seems to have lingered since last season seemed to provide a spark for their sputtering offense. A few changes might help.

"At this moment, we are what we are. This is what we've got," coach Adrian Heath said. "With the transfer window coming up we're hoping to add one or two pieces to this because I don't feel we're far away from being a really good team."

The game was the first between the teams since a heated matchup in October, when players and the Loons goalkeeper coach were ejected. It looked like there would be another incident late in the first half when Colorado midfielder Cole Bassett knocked down United midfielder Miguel Ibarra.

Ibarra took exception and pushed Bassett, and Colorado's Lalas Abubakar got in the middle of it, which drew Minnesota's Osvaldo Alonso into it. Things calmed down before anything escalated.

The Loons continued to struggle on offense. They have only six goals in their past 10 matches and have scored more than one goal just once — in a 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Union last week.

Minnesota was missing the two players who scored those goals — Hassani Dotson and Kevin Molino, both of whom were both called up for international duty with their respective national teams.

But the Loons had their chances Saturday, especially early. In the first two minutes, the Loons went on a rush but a shot was well off. In the 24th minute, Brent Kallman had a clean look at the net but shot it wide.

Colorado finally cashed in on a corner in the 29th minute when Jack Price's boot to the front was headed in by Kei Kamara.

Minnesota controlled the play for much of the second half but couldn't score.

Goalkeeper Vito Mannone kept the Loons in the game, and the Rapids also had a second goal taken away: Nicolas Mezquida's sliding kick went in, but only after he knocked the ball out of Mannone's hands. Mannone appealed to the official, who had already started to disallow the goal, bringing a collective groan from the announced 14,160 fans.

"I had the ball in my hands and not only is it a foul but it's a dangerous play because I got a good sign in my leg," Mannone said, showing an abrasion on his right thigh.

From that point on it was desperate times for United, and it nearly got the equalizer in the 89th minute, but Tim Howard made a big save on a header from Darwin Quintero.

The Loons play host to Sporting KC on Wednesday in the U.S. Open Cup before a nearly two-week break.