A LA Galaxy team missing four starters fell to the Colorado Rapids 2-1 Saturday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was unavailable after skipping the All-Star game while Giovani dos Santos was rested with a knock.

The Galaxy’s first-half performance wasn’t pretty on either side of the ball, but a catastrophic error from center back Tommy Smith resulted in Romain Alessandrini smashing a loose rebound from 12-yard out past a helpless Tim Howard.

LA’s structural issues were apparent early on after the break when Kellyn Acosta probed uncontested down the center of the park before his left-footed blast outside the area beat David Bingham to level the match.



The Galaxy had numerous opportunities to pull ahead but would rue their missed chances late when another defensive breakdown allowed Edgar Castillo to square a cross for Jack Nicholson to beat Bingham just before stoppage time.



LA could not muster yet another comeback as the Rapids prevailed, ending the nine game unbeaten streak.