but not the left-hand post. But Johnson was there to knock home the rebound into the empty net for his league-leading 12th goal of the season, and his ninth in his last four league appearances.
• The game had been a fractious affair from the start, and it boiled over in the 67th minute, when Jose Burciaga Jr. was sent off after he pushed Coundoul after the two had become tangled in the area.
• Nine minutes later the Rapids took advantage. Terry Cooke swung in a corner from the left and Facundo Erpen got up at the near post to flick home a glancing header for his first goal since joining the Rapids and give his new team a third draw in four games.
• Rapids head coach Fernando Clavijo made four changes to the team that lost 1-0 to the New York Red Bulls at home on July 8. Mehdi Ballouchy made his Colorado debut, coming in for Kyle Beckerman after the two were traded for each other. Dan Gargan was out injured while Colin Clark and Jacob Peterson both returned to the substitutes' bench, as Pablo Mastroeni, José Cancela and Herculez Gomez all came back into the team, Clavijo also going for a formation shift.
• Here's Clavijo's team (3-4-1-2): Bouna Coundoul - Brandon Prideaux, Ugo Ihemelu, Facundo Erpen - Terry Cooke, Pablo Mastroeni, Mehdi Ballouchy, Nicolas Hernandez (Jacob Peterson 74) - Jose Cancela - Jovan Kirovski, Herculez Gomez (Omar Cummings 84). Substitutes Not Used: Conor Casey, Colin Clark, Nico Colaluca, Stephen Keel, Zach Thornton
• "It was rough for both teams. People say the only time you cry about it is when you are losing. I am done worrying about how a game is being reffed," Clavijo said. "We played the game the way it is supposed to be played. Sometimes the referees blow their whistles too much, sometimes not enough. We try and play the same each game."
TEAM NEWS
• While the result still failed to put an end to the long winless streak, the Rapids were encouraged by coming back to gain the draw, and have now taken a point from three of their last four games.
• "It's important though, the way that we've been playing lately," Terry Cooke said. "It's important to go on the road and have a great platform now to get momentum on for Dallas. Then we have three home games."
• It was just the third time all season the Rapids have scored more than one goal in a league game, and the first time since a 2-0 victory against Real Salt Lake on April 30.
• "We put a lot of pressure on them -- they're a man down," goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul said. "In a way, we were kind of like the home team. We put so much pressure on them, all they can do is kick, defend, defend, and counter. Just like they did the last time we played."
• The Rapids have been shut out in five of their last seven games. But it marked the first time all season they overcame a deficit in the second half, and just the third time all season they pulled back a lead of any sort, though they lost the previous two games.
• "The day that I don't feel that my team is fighting, I'll walk away," Clavijo said. "My team is working hard. Some of the balls aren't going our way until today. We needed to get a result against a good team which isn't easy."
• On Monday, the MLS Disciplinary Committee suspended midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy two games for violent conduct for an incident in the Kansas City game - his debut with the Rapids. Ballouchy collided with Wizards midfielder Sasha Victorine in first-half stoppage time and was given a yellow card for a blow to Victorine, but the disciplinary committee decided the incident needed further review. Having reviewed the video evidence, in the judgment of the committee, the elbow by Ballouchy to Victorine was a deliberate and dangerous act committed away from any play on the ball. The incident resulted in an injury to Victorine and his immediate withdrawal from the game. Victorine's injury resulted in his suspension of full training activity for a period of time.
• Then on Tuesday, the club announced the signing of former Mexican national team striker Daniel Osorno. The tricky left-footed striker was a fixture for his hometown club of CF Atlas, where the 28-year-old Guadalajara native played from 1997-2007, with the exception on one year on loan (2003-04) at Monterrey. He made 278 career appearances for Atlas, scoring 61 goals. Osorno represented Mexico on 56 occasions, scoring 12 goals, including the game-winner in the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup victory against Brazil.
