Sergio Santos scores, but Union held to 1-1 tie by lowly Colorado Rapids

The Union’s winless streak grew to three games Wednesday night with their most disappointing result yet, a 1-1 tie with the basement-dwelling Colorado Rapids at Talen Energy Stadium.

Sergio Santos opened the scoring in the 26th minute, calmly slotting home a through ball from Jamiro Monteiro after Monteiro and Haris Medunjanin played a nice one-two combination. And while it might have looked simple on TV, it was the kind of finish the Union (7-4-4, 25 points) didn’t get from their other strikers while Santos was hindered by injuries.

Santos exited in the 60th minute for Fafa Picault. In the 67th minute, Marco Fabián finally returned to action after playing just one of the Union’s last seven games due to a sprained ankle. The move prompted the reverse of one of Jim Curtin’s usual tactical shifts: his team started the night in a 4-2-3-1 and moved to a 4-4-2, instead of the other way around.

Fabián made an impact right away, springing Picault with a neat through ball in the 68th minute and launching a 23-yard volley at Colorado goalkeeper Clint Irwin in the 72nd.

Just seconds after that, the Rapids (2-9-3, 9 points) tied the game with a move downfield off a throw-in. Jonathan Lewis, an occasional U.S. national team prospect recently acquired from New York City FC for a hefty $650,000 in allocation money, finished the play with an unmarked shot 12 yards from the back post.

Curtin made his last substitution in the 83rd minute, bringing in Brenden Aaronson for Kai Wagner. Ray Gaddis -- who nearly brought the house down in the first half when he missed his first career goal by a foot -- shifted to left back, and Alejandro Bedoya slid into a makeshift right-back role.

The moves produced plenty of attacking thrust for the Union, but ultimately no winning goal. Monteiro was sprung by Fabián in the 91st, but Irwin came off his line to parry the ball away; and Kacper Przybylko volleyed over the crossbar from 8 yards in the 92nd. That was the last chance of the night.

In the three-game homestand that concluded Wednesday, the Union out-shot their opponents by a combined 64-29 margin but scored only twice. That will likely give the front office some fodder to chew on as the European season ends, and the possibility of shopping for another striker increases.