Goals went missing at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Sunday night, as the Colorado Rapids and Orlando City SC toiled to a 0-0 draw despite the best efforts of attacking stars like Kaká, Cyle Larin, Shkelzen Gashi and Kevin Doyle.
Despite uncorking 20 shots in all, the two sides could direct only three of them on target as both passed furiously in midfield, but struggled in the final third.
The stalemate marks Colorado's 10th clean sheet of 2016 and keeps them within touching distance of Western Conference leaders FC Dallas. But it also marks their sixth draw in their last nine league games as their red-hot form of the early season has cooled.
Orlando, for their part, have now drawn a whopping 13 of their 28 matches this year and remain perched precariously on the edge of the East's playoff places.
Box Score
Three Things
1. WALL OF COLORADO ENDURES: Credit to Rapids center backs Axel Sjoberg and Bobby Burling for making reigning MLS Rookie of the Year Cyle Larin look surprisingly ordinary on Saturday, and pitching yet another shutout in a season marked by Colorado's flinty defensive work. The attack has ebbed and flowed, but their rearguard ensures that they're almost never out of games: they've conceded more than one goal in just three league matches this year.
2. NOCERINO'S RENAISSANCE: Perhaps no player at Orlando City has benefitted more from new coach Jason Kreis' arrival than Antonio Nocerino. The Italian had hit the skids earlier this summer, playing just 12 minutes across a span of seven league games from mid-May to mid-July. But he's started three of OCSC's last four games, including a steady display at Colorado, showing his pedigree in an influential central midfield role that bodes well for his MLS future.
3. MILE HIGH LIONS: Orlando's large, lively home crowds have turned heads since the club joined MLS last year. This weekend they took their show on the road with a truly impressive showing at DSGP, packing one corner of the stadium and making plenty of noise in support of their team.
