The way Real Salt Lake was absorbing pressure in its rivalry battle against the Colorado Rapids on Thursday night, it seemed destined to eventually concede a goal that would ruin its hopes of making an unprecedented move to the top of the Major League Soccer standings.

Sure enough, it did.

Colorado's Omar Cummings snuck behind RSL's Nat Borchers in the 65th minute and poked a Colin Clark cross over goalkeeper Nick Rimando from the edge of the six-yard box - guessing low, Rimando had dropped to the ground - to lift the Rapids to a 2-0 victory at Dick's Sporting Goods Park that kept RSL winless on the road this season.

"We kind of wilted toward their pressure in the second half," midfielder Andy Williams said. "We just couldn't get out of our half."

Even after two offensive substitutions following the goal, RSL could not mount much of an attack, and Colorado's Christian Gomez put the game out of reach with a penalty kick in the 83rd minute. Gomez kicked left while Rimando guessed right, after RSL's Matias Mantilla was called for a handball inside the area.

"It's tough," midfielder Kyle Beckerman said. "We had a really good opportunity there, and we let it slip away."

The loss spoiled RSL's bid to move into first place in the MLS Western Conference for the first time in its history. Instead, Rapids maintained their hold on the spot with 12 points from their 4-4 record, and took a big step toward reclaiming the Rocky Mountain Cup that it lost to RSL for the first time last season. Meanwhile, RSL fell to 2-4-2, with no points on the road.

"To be completely honest, I don't believe we deserve to be the first-place team in this conference," RSL coach Jason Kreis said. "We're not ready for that yet. . . . We're not ready. We don't deserve it. Hopefully, that opportunity will come again."

Neither team came out with much fire or flair, especially considering it was a rivalry game with first place at stake.

But when the second half began, the Rapids immediately became the aggressor, and RSL narrowly avoided giving up a goal several times before it finally did.

"Our sloppy play at the beginning of the second half, and lackadaisical effort a little bit, turned into their momentum and got them going a little bit," defender Chris Wingert said. "And then, when they were able to score a goal, obviously that is going to give you a bit of a boost. We weren't able to recover from that."

Several players blamed Colorado's 3-5-2 formation for giving them trouble, but Kreis downplayed that while acknowledging his team "for certain" missed midfielder Javier Morales, who missed his first game of the season with a strained adductor muscle. "We've just got to get better," Kreis said.

mcl@sltrib.com

* IN SHORT: Real Salt Lake loses its fourth straight game on the road, and fails to move into first place for the first time.

* KEY STAT: RSL has been outscored 10-2 on the road.