Carson, CA – A moment of madness from Colorado Rapids defender Drew Moor helped the Los Angeles Galaxy to a 1-0 win on Saturday at The Home Depot Center as Mike Magee converted from the penalty spot, leaving the Rapids with three losses from their first four games.
Colorado goalkeeper Clint Irwin kept his side in the match in the first half with a number of quality stops, but Moor lost his head for a moment early in the second half and it was enough to put his side at a severe disadvantage.
The incident occurred in the 48th minute when Moor elbowed the Galaxy's Marcelo Sarvas in the face away from the ball, earning himself a straight red card.
This reduced the Rapids to 10 men, but since the incident took place inside the penalty area, it allowed Magee to fire home the lone goal of the contest from the spot.
Jack McBean kept Irwin busy in the first half and he was denied on multiple occasions by the Colorado netminder, who got some help from a defender in the 31st minute.
Jose Villarreal beat Irwin to a long ball at the edge of the penalty area and lobbed it over the head of the 'keeper, only for Diego Calderon to recover in time to clear the shot off the goal line.
Juninho also threatened the Colorado net just before halftime when his free kick narrowly sailed over the crossbar.
But the match was turned with Moor's poor decision, and even though the Galaxy let off the gas a bit after the goal, the home side still did enough to see out the rest of the match and improve its record against the Rapids to 5-0-1 in the last six meetings between the teams.
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