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.
• Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo made no changes to the team that defeated Real Salt Lake 1-0 the weekend before. Here's Onalfo's team (4-3-1-2): Kevin Hartman - Jack Jewsbury, Jimmy Conrad, Nick Garcia, Jose Burciaga Jr. - Sasha Victorine (Kurt Morsink 46), Kerry Zavagnin, Michael Harrington - Carlos Marinelli - Davy Arnaud, Eddie Johnson (Yura Movsisyan 81) (Ryan Pore 89). Substitutes Not Used: Will John, Eric Kronberg, Ryan Raybould, Tyson Wahl
TEAM NEWS
• Johnson's continuing outstanding form is still bringing results for the Wizards. He has scored in the last four games he's played for the club, and it has won three and tied one in that stretch. The Wizards have not lost any of the seven games in which Johnson has scored this season, going 6-0-1.
• "It is always nice to score two goals in a game, but when you don't win it takes that feeling away a little. We always look to push forward and attack as a team. Tonight we did that well even when we were a man down," Johnson said. "This was an emotional game and I am a passionate player, but now we have to learn from this and prepare for the next game. Every game matters and we will continue to work hard and not give up."
• Despite the Rapids' physical approach, despite going down a man, Onalfo was pleased with the Wizards effort throughout the entire 90 minutes.
• "We are a team that doesn't give up. I love these guys; they are a tremendous group of players. Even when we were a man down Davy [Arnaud] had a chance at the end. Everything was against us at the end and we still came out with a point," Onalfo said. "We will not deter from who we are; a team that goes forward, controls the pace of the game and pushes the action. We also will not let outside factors dictate our style of play."
• Arnaud has been the first choice in recent games to partner Eddie Johnson in attack, and even with Johnson's run of goals, nearly came away with the late game-winner.
• "Ten men or not ten men, we're a good enough team that two goals should be good enough to get a win at home," Arnaud said. "Having said that, we had chances that it could have been three or four. It's unfortunate because we played well enough to get a win."
• The next three games could be vital for the Wizards. With the new playoff structure, a team like Chivas - third place in the Western Conference but now a point ahead of Kansas City - could be battling with the Wizards for a spot come October. Then following is a home-and-home series with New England - a pair of definite six-pointers, with the teams just a point apart.
• "I believe we have a team that can compete to win our [conference]. I believe we have a team that can win a championship," Onalfo said. "But this team has not made the playoffs in two years. So getting into the playoffs needs to be the number one priority. Once we're able to do that, God willing, then we start honing in on trying to win the [conference] and position ourselves for home-field advantage."
CHIVAS USA
Chivas USA began their four-game road swing with a quality result, going to Giants Stadium and coming away with a 2-0 victory against Eastern Conference leaders New York Red Bulls on MLS Primetime Thursday. The win moved Chivas to 27 points from 16 matches, now just three points behind FC Dallas for second place and six behind Western Conference leaders Houston Dynamo.
LAST MATCH
• Chivas were beginning a two-game stretch in four days against Eastern Conference opposition having won just once on the road on the season, while the Red Bulls had won twice in their last seven games yet still stayed tied for the lead in the Eastern Conference.
• Chivas USA took the lead in the 38th minute through Ante Razov. Maykel Galindo was given time to run at Seth Stammler on the right, and just as he entered the area he whipped in a quick cross where Razov snuck between two defenders and snapped home a bullet header inside the right-hand post.
• Three minutes from the end, Chivas doubled their lead through local boy Sacha Kljestan. Winning the ball in midfield, Kljestan played quickly to Razov, whose first-team return pass over the Red Bulls back line freed Kljestan. He raced in alone before sliding a shot just under Jon Conway's left side from the top of the area.
• Before that, the Red Bulls had their chances and could have drawn level on a few occasions. Juan Pablo Angel saw a header graze the outside of the post in the first half, and early in the second, Jozy Altidore turned a shot off the bar. Angel nearly grabbed a consolation goal in stoppage time, but his looping header from a corner was headed off the line by Rodrigo Lopez.
• Chivas USA head coach Preki made one change to the team that defeated the Columbus Crew 2-1 at home the weekend before. Alex Zotinca came back from suspension, replacing Orlando Perez in the back four as Preki also readjusted his lines.
• Here's Preki's team (4-4-2): Brad Guzan - Alex Zotinca (Rodrigo Lopez 83), Claudio Suarez, Shavar Thomas, Jonathan Bornstein - Sacha Kljestan, Lawson Vaughn, Jesse Marsch, Francisco Mendoza - Maykel Galindo (Laurent Merlin 73), Ante Razov (Jason Hernandez 92+). Substitutes Not Used: Preston Burpo, Jorge Flores, Anthony Hamilton, Orlando Perez
• "We were disciplined and we were for the most part, in almost every moment of the game ... organized," Preki said. "We knew what we wanted. We knew our chances would come, and when they come, we'll put them away and have some success. Fortunately enough, things worked out tonight in our favor."
TEAM NEWS
• For Razov, it was the 104th goal of his MLS career, putting him just four away from the all-time lead currently held by D.C. United forward Jaime Moreno and Real Salt Lake head coach Jason Kreis. Moreno pulled into the tie earlier this year with his third goal of the season, but has not scored since May 19. Razov's goal was his sixth of the season.
• "I've actually missed a few headers in the past few weeks, and it's something that I've really worked on the past couple days in training, and this time, it paid off, so I'm really happy about that," Razov said. " ... It's nice. Let's hope it will all add up when I'm all said and done, but the most important thing was three points." Said Preki: "With Ante, if he gets a chance in the box he can put it away. I thought today he finished his chance pretty good, and also he had a hand in the second goal, Sacha Kljestan's goal, to put the game away. He had a hand in both goals."
• Chivas didn't have many scoring opportunities, but they capitalized on the ones they did get, which couldn't be said of the Red Bulls, which twice hit the woodwork.
• "I'm not so sure if they had that many chances," Preki said. "If you're talking about long balls and crosses, yeah they had a few of those. They had one good chance in the second half when [Jozy] Altidore got away from us and obviously he hit the crossbar. ... I think when you go on the road and play a quality team like that, you've got to limit their opportunities, and I think we limited them."
• It was just Chivas' fifth ever win away from home - and one came against the Galaxy at The Home Depot Center. "We've been having a tough time on the road," Preki said. "Is it because we're such a young team and we're growing into the whole thing or is it that we don't really feel comfortable playing on the road? I don't know what it is, but I think tonight we played good. We came here and did a professional job, like I expect us to do every time we go on the road."
• Said Razov: "We wanted to start the second half of the season on a positive. A two-game road trip in two very difficult places, to get a win here is big for us. It's well-documented, our struggles on the road. We've won a couple of games on the road now, so it's a good start."
• Kljestan's goal was his first since the opening game of the season, and was even sweeter considering it came near Seton Hall University, from where he rounded out his college career in 2005.
• "Jason (Hernandez) and myself had probably 60 people total between the two of us. It's always exciting to come back and play at Giants Stadium because this is a place when I was in college, I watched Jason play here and I watched the MetroStars play and supported them while I was out here, so it's always a big deal for me to come back and play here," he said.
