Major League Soccer - Colorado Rapids 1-1 New York Red Bulls
The Colorado Rapids ended their clash against the New York Red Bulls with a 1-1 draw in Major League Soccer as rains continued to pour down throughout the night but failed to dampen the high spirit with which the match was played. The Rapids pushed hard for a win while the Red Bulls looked content in getting a point away from home in front of a 19,000 strong crowd.
It was the home side that took the early lead in the first half through Omar Cummings. However, against the run of play, Angel managed to level the game for New York. As a result, the Rapids are still unbeaten in their last 6 matches and will make their way to the BMO filed to face Toronto FC next. The Red Bulls will go back to Harrison with four points from two matches on the road.
The Rapid were the stronger of the two teams in the initial few minutes as far as the possession of the ball was concerned. But the 4-5-1 combination for the Red Bulls meant that it was not that easy for the opponents to penetrate their defence. New York had started the game with a more defensive outlook to make sure they did not concede an early goal.
But the relentless pressure eventually paid off when in the 15th minute, Sinisa Ubiparipovic misplaced a pass as the Red Bulls were moving forward in a rare move. The Rapids quickly got hold of the ball and started a lightening quick counter attack. Marvell Wynne played an incisive ball in the box for Connor Casey as he controlled it well and with not many defenders to contend with, he calmly sent it across to Cummings who made no mistake in slotting the ball into the goal to make it 1-0.
It looked like they had doubled the lead when Mehdi Ballouchy slammed the ball in the back of the net, but to their disappointment, the referee blew the whistle. Casey had made a rash tackle which initiated the move and hence the goal was disallowed.
Red Bull finally started to play some football and made their first decent move in the 32nd minute. Dane Richards sent a through ball to Angel but he could not control the ball and Colorado keeper came charging forward to deflect the ball away for a corner. The corner that followed was initially headed out by the defence. Red Bulls made another attempt and sent in a threatening cross. Angel got the ball and this time around made no mistake and volleyed the ball home to put the match on level terms.
Just 5 minutes before the break, Casey had a golden chance to put the Rapids in the lead, but his shot went well wide. The half ended on level terms but the home side were understandably disappointed by the score line after dominating almost the entire half. The second half was a one-sided encounter as the Red Bulls looked to be bent on going home with a point. The Rapids continued to conjure up one attack after another.
The one rare opportunity for the away side came in the 50th minute, when Angel found the space to pass one to Richards on the edge of the area. Richards took the shot but the keeper had no problems in dealing with it. Kosuke Kimura was sent in for Scott Palguta, and he helped the Rapids set up a number of attacks. With an hour left in the game, his cross almost resulted in a goal when Ream lost his footing while trying to clear the ball and Cummings was one on one with the keeper but could not make it count. The Red Bulls managed to hang on and were happy to share the points. Rapids on the other hand felt that they were robbed of all 3 points after their dominating performance in the game.
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