At the end of the second meeting in the Rocky Mountain Cup this season, all Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids had to show for their efforts were an own goal each, as the two rivals battled to a 1-1 draw Thursday night at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
Jack Stewart saw a deflected cross bounce off him into the RSL goal in the fourth minute to give Colorado an early lead, but Pablo Mastroeni returned the favor by tipping a Freddy Adu cross into the Rapids goal just 11 minutes for all the goals on the night.
It was the ninth time in MLS history there had been two own goals in the same game, and the sixth that each team had scored from an own goal in a game. But it was the first time that all the scoring in a 1-1 game came from own goals.
Real Salt Lake came out hungry in the second game in charge for Jason Kreis and nearly put one in early as they stole the ball deep in the Rapids half. Adu laid the ball back to Atiba Harris who blistered a shot from seven yards out that Colorado goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul did very well to block.
Harris nearly created another goal in the second minute, as his pass to the top of the box found an open Mehdi Ballouchy, but his long shot went just over the bar.
The Rapids scored first, however, the recipients of a lucky break in the fourth minute. Herculez Gomez made a nice move on the right flank to get past Willis Forko and sent a cross to the top of the goal area. But RSL goalkeeper dove out and knocked the ball off Stewart, who running back toward his own goal, saw the ball carom off of his thigh and into the back of the net.
Gomez looked to have doubled the Rapids lead in the 13th minute when he put in a rebound that caromed off Rimando and Stewart, but he was judged to have been offside on Jovan Kirovski's original shot.
Just after, in the 15th minute, Real Salt Lake tied the score. Adu's low cross from near the left corner of the penalty area was deflected by Mastroeni past a wrongfooted Coundoul and into the net for the second own goal of the night.
The middle of the first half was full of quick counterattacks created by physical defending from both teams. Mastroeni, in particular, was involved in several battles with Harris and Jeff Cunningham, while RSL's Daniel Torres and Gomez had their own engagement on the other side of the field.
One counterattack created a nice chance for the Rapids in the 28th minute. Nico Hernandez gathered the ball off of a mis-hit Salt Lake corner kick, and played it long to Gomez at midfield, who in turn played a long ball forward leading Terry Cooke to the corner. His cross attempted to find Roberto Brown, who was loosely marked in the box by Pope, the lone RSL defender around, but Brown's glancing header was well off the goal.
An RSL counterattack in the 30th minute gave Jeff Cunningham his first good chance of the game, but his hard shot from just inside the box barely was wide of the post.
A nice build-up from Salt Lake in the 32nd minute led to Ballouchy finding Adu wide open on the left flank. Adu dribbled around Dan Gargan, and his right-footed shot skipped out of the hands of Coundoul, but the ball was easily cleared by the Colorado defense.
Roberto Brown was a continuous danger to the RSL backline, especially receiving the ball with his back to goal. On one such post up effort in the 33rd minute, he was able to spin around his defender and unleash a shot that looked dangerous but went wide of the post.
Just before halftime, Coundoul made another amazing save, again robbing Adu. Adu, who was a real threat out wide for the entire game, had acres of open space in front of him after receiving a nice pass from Chris Klein. He dribbled nearly all of the way to the goal area before unleashing a torrid shot that looked destined for goal, but Coundoul managed to get his hand up as he dove for the block and the shot caromed off his hand and out of danger.
At the beginning of the second half Gomez continued to create excellent chances for the Rapids. His fancy footwork in the 46th minute flummoxed Stewart and his cross was well hit to Hernandez, but the Argentinean's shot was blocked by a quick-reacting Carey Talley.
RSL began to find seams in the Rapids defense in the second half, building several chances through quick passing combinations. At the center of many of the combinations was Harris, who in the 50th minute played a nice give-and-go with Adu, springing him into the box with only the goalkeeper to beat. But Coundoul was quick off of his line and able to smother the ball before Adu could tap it past him.
The Rapids continued to rely on attacks down the flanks to generate their chances. Characteristic of their attacks was yet another cross from Cooke in the 57th minute which pinged around the box before falling to Vanney, who quickly played the ball at the top of the restraining arc to Hernandez. Hernandez took a few dribbles before blasting the ball just wide.
A defensive miscue from Pope led to yet another good chance for Hernandez in the 65th minute, but the resulting shot from Gomez was saved by Rimando. Just after, in the 67th minute, Gomez looked to have scored after receiving a nice ball on the flank from substitute Jose Cancela, but for the second time on the night an apparent goal was ruled out for offside.
Another good RSL chance was snuffed out by Coundoul in the 70th minute. A free kick just outside of the box was hit low through the wall by Klein, but the Rapids 'keeper was able to get down and smother it.
Gomez kept creating dangerous chances as the half wore on. In the 72nd minute, Vanney led him with a nice pass and Gomez blistered a shot toward the upper corner. Rimando, however, timed his jump well, and was able to block the shot and deflect it out of danger.
Gomez again nearly scored in the 79th minute, collecting an flick from Beckerman and blasting a low skipping shot that Rimando did well to get down and smother.
Neither did much to threaten the other over the final minutes, Real getting a second consecutive draw on the year while still looking for their first victory. The Rapids are also looking to regain the magic at their new home field, now winless in their last three games at Dick's Sporting Goods Park since an opening day victory against D.C. United.
Geoffrey Urland is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
