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McManus, Ballouchy key Rapids rout of Red Bulls

Jul 5, 2008 - 5:46 AM COMMERCE CITY, Colorado (Ticker) -- With their winless streak at four games, there was no time like Friday for the Colorado Rapids to return to the comforts of home and recapture their dominance of Independence Day.

Tom McManus and Mehdi Ballouchy each scored first-half goals as the Rapids cruised to a 4-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls.

The Rapids jumped on the board first in the 24th minute when McManus redirected a short cross from Colin Clark in front of the net pass and beat New York goalkeeper Jon Conway on the left side for the Rapids' first score.

Ballouchy scored his first goal of the campaign off a crossing pass from Conor Casey in the 36th minute to give Colorado a 2-0 lead at halftime.

"Sometimes, we just don't show it (team play and explosiveness)," Clark said. "Tonight was great; the atmosphere and crowd were great. We scored pretty early and were all over them. Coming into halftime up 2-0 really helps."

The Rapids, who have allowed just five goals in eight home games this season, got another defensive gem in support of goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul, who needed to turn away just two shots to record his fifth shutout of the campaign and the 16th of his career.

In the process of snapping its 0-3-1 stretch, Colorado (6-8-1) improved to 5-2-1 at home this season and 11-1-1 all-time on games played on Independence Day.

"Today was good because we felt pressure and hadn't won in a while," Colorado defender Pablo Mastroeni said. "We have players 1-28 (on this team) who can come in and make a difference. We just have to do it."

Clark tallied in the 49th and halftime substitute Omar Cummings finished off the rout in the 68th minute for Colorado.

The victory was Colorado's second of the season in which it won 4-0 in front of a home sellout crowd, with the first coming in the season opener against the Los Angeles Galaxy on March 29.

"Tonight reminds of the first game of the season against (the Galaxy)," Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo said. "The players reacted well to the big crowd and the holiday atmosphere. Hopefully, we can transfer this effort to our upcoming games."

For every bit as happy as Colorado was with its performance, New York was equally displeased.

"I think we did not compete today and got what we deserved," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "Credit (the Rapids), they played very well today. They played very clinical and finished their chances very well. ... I don't think any of the players can look me in the eyes and tell me they played today."

Conway recorded one save for the Red Bulls (5-5-5).