After each team scored through an own goal in the opening quarter-hour, the Colorado Rapids and Real Salt Lake settled for a 1-1 draw in Round 2 of the Rocky Mountain Cup at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Thursday evening.
A deflected Herculez Gomez cross bounced off Real defender Jack Stewart after just four minutes, then in the 15th minute, Pablo Mastroeni turned a Freddy Adu cross into his own goal for all the scoring 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.
Despite Salt Lake getting two quick shots in the game's first few minutes, Colorado gained the early lead before even getting a shot off on goal.
Kyle Beckerman initiated a sequence that found Gomez on the right flank. Gomez hooked the ball in front of the goal, and RSL 'keeper Nick Rimando dove out to knock it away. But the ball went right off Stewart's thigh and back past the prone Rimando to give the home side the early lead.
From the outset, Freddy Adu was very lively on the Real left side. He had gotten off a hard right-footed shot in the game's first minute from the corner of the goal area, coming up against Bouna Coundoul who knocked it away for his first save.
Adu would go on to get three shots on goal in the first half and four in the game, with all of Coundoul's first-half saves coming off Adu's shots. But it was an attempted pass from Adu that led to the equalizer.
He drove a low cross from outside the left side of the penalty area, and as he tried to stop it, Mastroeni saw it go off his boot and inside the near post as Coundoul moved back across the goal for the expected cross, the deflection from the Rapids captain leaving him no chance.
Colorado's passing game kept RSL on the run throughout the game, with both sides playing aggressive and physical soccer, but with Colorado establishing the controlled possession while Salt Lake tried to maximize opportunities when they could break for the goal.
Though fouls were not excessive and neither team received a single yellow card, the fierce rivalry between the two teams reared its head a pair of times in the first half.
On one, Mastroeni and Atiba Harris tangled in a physical struggle for the ball, pulling jerseys and locking arms before Mastoeni emerged with possession. Gomez and Daniel Torres similarly engaged on the other side of the field, with Torres fending Gomez off with a straight arm to the shoulder, but neither play drew calls.
Coundoul gave his team a big lift heading into the halftime break with an outstanding one-handed save on a hard shot from close range by Adu.
Coundoul and Adu continued to battle in the second half, with Coundoul breaking up one of RSL's most serious threats, coming all the way out to the top of the box to steal one from Adu as he charged past all defenders toward the goal in the 51st minute.
Gomez had a lot of action with little to show for it, as he had two apparent goals taken away from him, one in each half, on offside calls. He got on the end of a rebound and sent it off Rimando and into the goal in the 13th minute, but was offside on the initial shot. In the 67th minute he again looked to have scored off a pass from substitute Jose Cancela, but again the assistant referee's flag went up.
Both teams had ample opportunities to take a lead, with enough penetration to the goal to give the feeling that they were on the verge of breaking through. Gomez again had a good chance at goal in the 72nd minute, but this time Rimando was forced to make a save, deflecting his rising shot over the goal, and he forced another diving save out of Rimando in the 79th minute.
The final whistle came without many further quality chances, with RSL still searching for its first win of the season but getting a second successive draw for new head coach Jason Kreis. Colorado played one of its better home games, but has not won at Dick's Sporting Goods Park since Opening Day, with a pair of ties and a loss following its season-opening home victory.
Owen Perkins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
