Playing without the exiled Kei Kamara, traded to the New England Revolution at the deadline early Thursday morning, Columbus Crew SC took the early lead Saturday at MAPFRE Stadium, but Kevin Doyle's second-half header rescued a point for the league-leading Colorado Rapids, extending their unbeaten streak to seven games with a 1-1 draw.
With Norwegian Ola Kamara (no relation) starting at striker in place of Kei, Crew SC opened the scoring when Cedrick Mabwati buried a pass from Harrison Afful in the 23rd minute.
But the Rapids – playing their third game in eight days – equalized in the 55th, when Doyle headed in a corner by Shkelzen Gashi, making his return to the lineup after missing Wednesday's victory over Sporting Kansas City. With the draw, Colorado is 5-0-2 in its last seven games.
Box Score
- 23’ – CLB – Cedrick (Harrison Afful)
- 55’ – COL – Kevin Doyle (Shkelzen Gashi)
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Three Things
1. NO RELATION: Ola Kamara stepped in to play the striker role for Crew SC – for the full 90 minutes. It was his first start of the season, and the closest he came to scoring was a header in the 82nd minute that was saved without too much difficulty by Colorado keeper Zac MacMath.
2. HEAVY WORKLOAD: Playing their third game in eight days, the Rapids didn't use all three substitutions available to them. They instead made two substitutions, and one of those came in the 87th minute when Marlon Hairston came on to replace an injured Mark Burch.
3. TOUGHING IT OUT: Columbus defender Michael Parkhurst looked as though he might have to be subbed out after colliding with Colorado's Doyle in the 25th minute. Parkhurst lay on the ground for a while, grabbing his left arm and writhing in pain. But Parkhurst stayed in the game and not only made it to halftime, but played the full 90.
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