Late winner seals first cup for Rapids

The Colorado Rapids have won their first MLS Cup championship after defeating FC Dallas 2-1 in overtime in chilly Toronto on Sunday.

The Rapids, making their second appearance in the MLS Cup and their first in 13 years, held off Dallas in a scrappy and ill-tempered match marred by lunging tackles and aggressive play.

Dallas, playing in their first Cup final, conceded an early goal and then a heart-breaking own goal in from defender George John which proved to be the winner.

John deflected the ball into his own net while trying to block substitute attacker Macoumba Kandji, who worked his way into the box and unleashed a strike from the near post in the 107th minute.

Kandji appeared to have his leg stomped on during the play and limped off Toronto’s BMO Field, leaving Colorado with 10 men for the remaining 12 minutes.

Dallas surged furiously for an equaliser, playing all but two men forward as they fought to take the match to a penalty shootout, but Colorado goalkeeper Matt Pickens denied their best efforts.

Former Toronto FC forward Conor Casey, who struck an equaliser for the Rapids on 56 minutes, was voted the game’s MVP.

Casey erased David Ferreira’s 35th-minute goal from a scramble inside the area, poking the ball wide of Dallas stopper Kevin Hartman after falling to the ground.

Ferreira, the league MVP for 2010, got on the scoresheet when he slid in to meet Martin Chavez’s cross from the right with a sublime left-foot volley.