Two teams playing for their playoff lives played each other to a standstill Saturday night as the Colorado Rapids tied the New York Red Bulls 1-1 in the final regular-season MLS game ever to played at Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver.
The Rapids' goal came early from rookie Jacob Peterson, while the Red Bulls tied it up in the second half through veteran Amado Guevara.
With their postseason future still in doubt, the Rapids came out looking to attack. In the second minute, Nicolas Hernandez made a storming run down the left side of the field, but his chance eventually came to nothing.
The Rapids' goal came soon after. Thiago Martins won a ball at the top of the box and spun past defender Carols Mendes at the top of the box. Mendes, however, grabbed Martins and pulled him down for an obvious penalty.
Referee Brian Hall did the correct thing in delaying his whistle and playing the advantage as Peterson sprinted in to collect the ball and slot it past 'keeper Jon Conway for his third goal of the season.
Peterson nearly got his second in the 11th minute as he got some daylight away from his marker, but his jump was not quite high enough to reach a cross from Kyle Beckerman.
Terry Cooke made the defensive play of the game in the 17th minute. Guevara took a quick free kick to John Wolyniec, whose deflected shot fell to Josmer Altidore. The Red Bulls rookie had Cannon out of position defending against Wolyniec's shot, but Cooke made it back to clear Altidore's effort off the line.
The Rapids' quick attacks continued to create scoring chances. In the 29th minute, Martins met a Cooke cross at the penalty spot, but unluckily his header caromed off the crossbar.
The game became extremely chippy in the second portion of the first half, with 16 fouls (eight by each team) and three yellow cards. Most of the fouls were committed against the attacking side, as neither team wanted to let the other create anything from the run of play. And each team's ineffective set pieces did nothing to discourage the tactic.
The second half started as disjointed as the first ended, with neither team able to get much going. But out of nothing, Guevara evened things up with some good effort in the 60th minute.
Second-half substitute Markus Schopp dribbled by Aitor Karanka at the top of the penalty area, but lost the ball to Mike Petke. Petke and Guevara both went for the ball at the same time, but after bouncing off of each player it fell at Guevara's feet, where he was able to knock a low shot into the far corner of the goal.
Once again, Martins nearly scored, this time in the 64th minute. Beckerman won the ball in midfield and after a quick spin move led Martins with a pass past the defense into the box. Martins' first time effort, however, went just wide of the left post.
The Rapids thought they had scored the go-ahead goal in the 72nd minute from a quick restart on an indirect kick inside of the penalty area. The Rapids, who had won the kick when Conway had to dive and save a pass back from his own teammate that appeared to be heading toward goal, played the kick while referee Hall was setting up the Red Bull wall on the goal line.
On seeing the ball in play, Hall immediately blew the whistle before the ball went into the net. Then on the subsequent retake, Beckerman blasted the ball into the wall.
Hernandez was almost the hero in the 77th minute. After slowing down to let Beckerman's pass catch up to him, Hernandez beat the defense and beat Conway with his shot, but it went well wide of the goal.
Karanka had a great chance off of a 35-yard free kick in the 87th minute, shooting low to beat the wall, but Conway was well positioned and saved the skipping shot.
Beckerman continued to provide good service in extra time, sending a great through ball for second-half substitute Melvin Tarley, but Conway was quick to come off his line and Tarley was not able to get the ball by Conway's big frame.
With the tie, the Rapids maintain their distance above Real Salt Lake for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference, with one game remaining. Colorado heads to Houston to take on Dynamo knowing that a draw will secure their playoff future, although they can still move into third place in the West with a victory and a Chivas USA loss to Real Salt Lake.
For the Red Bulls, their playoff future was always going to come down to the season finale against Kansas City next Saturday at Giants Stadium. But after the Wizards' victory against Chivas USA at home, New York must now defeat the Wizards in the final game of the year to qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Geoffrey Urland is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
