Cummings double fires Rapids to victory

NEW YORK CITY (CMC):

Omar Cummings scored twice in the last half-hour to hand Colorado Rapids a convincing 3-0 victory over Chivas USA in Major League Soccer on Saturday.

The Jamaican forward struck in the 68th and 81st minutes, following a 52nd-minute item from Connor Casey to hand the Rapids their second straight victory on home turf in the last eight days.

Cummings now has eight goals for the season and his two strikes would be welcomed news for the Jamaica men's national team, with which he linked up for international friendly matches against Costa Rica in Kingston yesterday and Peru in midweek in Florida.

After a low-keyed first half ended 0-0, the match came alive early in the second stanza, when Casey nailed a rebound from a fiery shot from Cummings for his ninth goal of the season.

A bit of individual brilliance from Cummings about quarter of an hour later extended the Rapids' lead. He collected the ball inside the penalty area, shook off several defenders and slammed the ball into the lower left corner.

Sealed the deal

Cummings sealed the deal for the Rapids, when he blew down the left side and curled his shot past Chivas net-minder Zach Thornton.

The win helped the Rapids' playoff hopes and all but killed Chivas' chances of making the MLS post-season.

The match also marked the debut for Anthony Wallace. The 21-year-old left-back was born in Brooklyn to Jamaican parents, with whom he moved to St Petersburg, Florida at the age of two.

Elsewhere, the Jamaica-born forward Jeff Cunningham scored his 129th-career goal, as FC Dallas extended their unbeaten streak to 13 straight with a 1-0 victory Toronto.

Two minutes into the second half, Cunningham scored his eighth goal of the season, when David Ferreira played a long ball over the out-of-place Toronto defenders to a streaking Marvin Chávez.

Cunningham was unmarked on the left flank and Chávez targeted his pass to the striker, whose right-footed shot was unerring and nestled in the right corner of the net.

In other results, Philadelphia Union drew with Kansas City Wizards 1-1, the same result between Chicago Fire and Los Angeles Galaxy, Columbus Crew edged DC United 1-0, the same scoreline for Real Salt Lake over New York Red Bulls and New England Revolution rolled over Seattle Sounders 3-1.