The Kansas City Wizards came back to claim a share of the spoils at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Saturday night, getting a second-half goal for a 1-1 draw with the Colorado Rapids. A first half penalty kick from Jovan Kirovski was matched by Davy Arnaud in the 58th minute.
Eddie Johnson nearly opened the scoring for the Wizards in the 16th minute. Arnaud recovered from a Terry Cooke challenge near midfield to race ahead into open space and had a clear path to the box. His cross was met well by Johnson, but Rapids goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul made an excellent save of the diving header.
Johnson then created some space between him and two defenders in the penalty area in the 18th minute, but his left-footed shot was smothered by Coundoul.
The Rapids, per their preferred strategy, were attempting to attack along the flanks, trying to take advantage of the extremely wide field. Kansas City mostly contained the attacks, but gave away many corner kicks, and in the 26th minute Roberto Brown nearly headed one home.
The Wizards continued to play a quick, short passing game, utilizing their speed advantage over the Rapids back line. In the 34th minute, Johnson danced around two defenders and played a pass to Yura Movsisyan, who sped past his marker and placed a hard shot toward the lower corner of the goal, but Coundoul was there to smother it.
Brown had two great chances for the Rapids in the 38th minute, neither of which he converted. First, a long cross from Terry Cooke found the Panamanian international unmarked near the penalty spot, but he whiffed on his volley attempt. Soon after, Nicolas Hernandez sent another cross into the area, and this time Brown's header was strongly hit, but flew just wide of the post.
Johnson's speed created one more chance for Kansas City in the first half when, in the 40th minute, he turned the corner on Pablo Mastroeni and played a chip in front of the goal. Unfortunately, no other Wizards attackers were following the play, so Coundoul was able to easily smother the ball.
The Rapids goal came just before halftime. A hard shot from Herculez Gomez into the box was stopped by the hand of Nick Garcia, and referee Jorge Gonzalez had no hesitation in calling for the penalty. After some strenuous arguments from the Wizards, Kirovski stepped up and buried the penalty kick for his second goal of the season.
The only halftime change was the addition of Aaron Hohlbein on the Wizards back line replacing captain Jimmy Conrad. Conrad had returned to the Wizards lineup after missing last Saturday's match against Columbus with a broken jaw.
The Wizards flirted with disaster in the 48th minute. Garcia played a bouncing ball along the end line that 'keeper Kevin Hartman had trouble collecting. While he was juggling the ball trying to gain control, Gomez streaked in and poked the ball away, but luckily for Kansas City, he poked it too hard for him to control.
Kirovski nearly had his second in the 54th minute, receiving a ball at the top of the box and blasting a low shot that had Hartman beat, but went just wide of the goal.
Johnson's attacks finally bore fruit in the 58th minute. His cross from inside the area near the touchline found Arnaud, who had slipped past his mark and was easily able to volley the ball into the back of the net to tie the score.
Both teams played with a renewed sense of urgency after the equalizing goal, but were unable to get anything consistent going on offense. Much of this was a testament to the two defensive units, especially the play of Garcia for the Wizards and fullback Dan Gargan for the Rapids,
The first real chance after the equalizer came in the 75th minute. Jacob Peterson tracked down a long pass deep into the Wizards half and then played a nifty backheel to an onrushing Hernandez. Hernandez juked around three Wizards defenders, but his shot was stopped by the fourth and rebounded out for a corner that ultimately came to nothing.
The final exchanges ran end to end, with each team quickly pushing forward attempting to find a late winner. Each team's attacks were failing in the final third however, as neither side put together that last quality pass that could beat the defense.
The best chance of the endgame came from the Rapids. A free kick from 30 yards out was played to the penalty spot, but neither Brown nor Hartman could get a handle of it, and after bouncing through everyone else in the area, it went out harmlessly for a goal kick.
The result stood, and the Wizards took home a vital road point to help them keep pace in the Eastern Conference. For the Rapids, it kept them without a win at Dick's Sporting Goods Park since their 2-1 win against D.C. United to open the season. The Rapids have now suffered a loss and three ties since their first win at their new home.
Geoffrey Urland is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
