Quincy Amarikwa and Steven Emory both found the back of the net as the Colorado Rapids defeated the Chicago Fire 2-0 in MLS Reserve League action at TOYOTA PARK Sunday morning. The 2-0 result gave the Rapids their first victory of the Reserve League season, dealing the Fire their first defeat.
The Rapids struck first in the 13th minute when Amarikwa broke free in behind the Fire defense only to be hauled down by Pari Pantazopoulos on the right side of the box. The referee immediately pointed to the spot and the UC Davis product calmly beat Fire goalkeeper Jon Conway to give the visiting side a 1-0 lead.
Seven minutes later the Rapids doubled their lead when Amarikwa sped into space on the right side of the field and squared a ball into the Fire penalty area toward a charging Steven Emory. Conway did well to parry the initial effort, however, the Rapids open tryout winner collected his own rebound and snuck the ball past Conway to the near post on 20 minutes.
The Rapids move to 1-4-1, 4 points in the Central Mountain Division while the Fire remain atop of the division table with a 4-1-1 record and 13 points after six games played. The Rapids next take the field in Reserve Division action on Thursday, Sept. 1 against the Houston Dynamo at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park at 10 a.m. CT. The Men in Red welcome Real Salt Lake to the TOYOTA PARK practice field on Tuesday, Sept. 6 at 10 a.m. CT.
Chicago Fire 0 – 2 Colorado Rapids
Chicago Fire: Jon Conway; Mike Banner, Josip Mikulic (Victor Pineda 46’), Yamith Cuesta, Pari Pantazopoulos; Gabriel Ferrari (Pedro Mendes* 41’), Michael Videira, Baggio Husidic (Marcus Epps 61’), Corben Bone; Cristian Nazarit (Kellen Gulley 65’), Orr Barouch (Paulo Mendes* 46’)
Substitutes Not Used: Alec Dufty, AJ Jeffries
Colorado Rapids: Steward Ceus; Danny Earls, Scott Palguta, Michael Holody, Eddie Ababio; Joseph Nane (Dillon Serna* 77’), Quame Holder* (Davy Armstrong 62’), Ross LaBauex; Andre Akpan (Josh Janniere 71’), Quincy Amarikwa, Steven Emory
Substitutes Not Used: Chris Sharpe, Sterling Copeland,
Academy Player
*Guest Player
Scoring Summary:
COL – Quincy Amirikwa (penalty kick) 13’
COL – Steven Emory (unassisted) 20’
Misconduct Summary:
COL – Danny Earls (Caution; Reckless Tackle) 51’
CHI – Michael Videira (Caution; Reckless Tackle) 53’
CHI – Paulo Mendes (Caution; Reckless Tackle) 77’
Referee: Dimitar Chavdarov
Referee’s Assistants: Greg Dopka, Khalaf Al-Latayfeh
4th Referee: Nikola Aleksic
