The Colorado Rapids closed out their second month of competition with another tie; Wednesday night’s 1-1 draw against the New York Red Bulls was their fifth of the season.
Rapids midfielder Gabriel Torres redirected a Dillon Powers set piece to give Colorado (1-2-5) the early lead, but a Ben Newnam foul in the box minutes later allowed Bradley Wright-Phillips to sink a penalty shot and draw the match at Red Bull Arena.
Colorado forward Dominique Badji was a handful against New York (3-0-4), consistently threatening the Red Bulls centerbacks all evening. Badji managed the first meaningful chance of the match in the 13th minute on the a counter attack, finding a long pass from his defense to split the centerbacks and was one-on-one against goalkeeper Luis Robles, but Badji’s shot was denied.
Despite the Red Bulls’ pressure, the Rapids found a break in the 25th minute. Powers lined up a free kick from 35 yards out, dropping his shot in the path of Torres, who took a soft touch to beat Robles for the early lead.
New York would answer five minutes later as Newnam was found guilty for his tackle on Sacha Kljestan in the box. Wright-Phillips nailed the shot past Clint Irwin to even up the match.
Badji nearly put Colorado ahead in the 35th minute as he snuck a shot past Robles that hit the far left post before rolling out of bounds.
The Red Bulls came out more aggressive to open the second half and Lloyd Sam managed the first chance, kicking a low shot at Clint Irwin for the easy save. Kljestan followed that effort with a shot from the right, bouncing his shot off the post in the 64th minute.
Colorado continued their attack, but could not find the back of the net, leaving town with one point. The Rapids find themselves in last place in the Western Conference to close out April.
The Rapids now make a quick turnaround, facing the LA Galaxy Saturday at the Stub Hub Center at 8:30 pm. You can catch that game on Mile High Sports Radio AM 1550| FM 94.1|96.9 in Boulder.
Jesse Trujillo is a producer and writer for Mile High Sports. He can be emailed at jtrujillo81@gmail.com and followed on Twitter @Jtrujillo1981
