Game Recap: Colorado Rapids 1, Sporting Kansas City 1

The game between the Colorado Rapids and Sporting Kansas City was evenly matched from the beginning tonight, with both sides playing aggressively and getting some decent chances. It was nice to see the Rapids stepping up to balls and getting in between passes, and both sides were clearly going for blood and not holding back.

In the first half, both sides got only a single shot on target, but had a handful of shots on goal. SKC had the edge in possession at 62-38%, but it didn’t appear that way if you were watching the game.

Right before the half, Tim Howard was caught off his line in the 44th minute due to a terrible ball that he sent directly to the opponent. Howard poked the ball away and Roger Espinoza took a shot that bounced off the top of the crossbar. Both CBs got back in front of the goal so Espinoza was likely trying to get it in between their heads and the bar.

The second half looked much like the first, but some of us started to wonder if SKC were going to start to get tired. In the 54th minute, Matt Besler passed a ball back to goalkeeper Tim Melia. Diego Rubio snuck in behind and took the ball off Melia’s feet and into the back of the goal for the Chilean’s first goal of the season.

In the 72nd minute, Rubio got a yellow card for simulation, though it appeared as though Besler took him down after Rubio ‘megged him. This was the 6th yellow card of the game at this point, with three for each side. Johan Blomberg subbed in the 79th minute and then got a yellow of his own one minute later. In the 87th minute, Blomberg got a second yellow for “time wasting” and gets ejected, taking the Rapids down to 10 men.

On the free kick from the foul, Johnny Russell put in the upper corner and evens it up 1-1.

There were four minutes of stoppage time, and in the end it finished 1-1.

All in all, Tim Howard made some fantastic saves, Dillon Serna looked great at left back, and The centerback pairing of Axel Sjoberg and Deklan Wynne worked well tonight, but SKC was able to bring in fresh legs and steal a point tonight in Commerce City.