COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – The Colorado Rapids and the New England Revolution played to a 2-2 draw as Shalrie Joseph equalized in the 90th minute with a penalty kick for the 10-man visitors.WATCH: FULL MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
The Rapids scored two second half goals to offset a 25th-minute goal against the run of play from Benny Feilhaber for New England.
A 65th-minute penalty from Caleb Folan and a fortuitous long-range effort from Kosuke Kimura in the 82nd minute looked as if it would be enough to win the game for the home team, who were looking for their third straight home victory.
Folan’s penalty was the result of some great work between Sanna Nyassi and Omar Cummings, the partnership that had proved so effective in the midweek victory over the New York Red Bulls. Tonight, the pair had to wait until the second half to work their magic as Cummings was rested for the first half.
The two combined in the 63rd minute to create the penalty chance for Folan. Cummings ran wide to take a ball from Nyassi before the Jamaican returned the favor. Nyassi found himself with a clear route to the New England goal but was upended by left back Chris Tierney before he could get a shot in. Referee Geoff Gamble pointed immediately to the spot and produced red to send the Revolution defender off.
17 minutes later Kimura then passed speculatively into the New England penalty area from inside his own half, and ended up catching ‘keeper Matt Reis in no-man’s land. The veteran ended up letting the ball bounce over him and into the net for an unlikely 2-1 Rapids lead.
But the Revs fought back despite being a man down for the second time in three games. Sub Kenny Mansally snuck into the top of the penalty area and out-fought Scott Palguta for a pass, drawing a foul and the game’s second penalty.
Joseph stepped up to secure an away point for New England and made no mistake, finishing smoothly.
The eventful second half was in stark contrast to a lifeless first 45 minutes with little happening apart from the New England goal. Feilhaber snuck in front of a napping Wells Thompson to latch onto a head-flick from Stephen McCarthy off of Kevin Alston’s long throw-in. It was Feilhaber’s first MLS goal.
The Rapids’ best chances came from Kimura in the opening minute as he nailed a left foot shot saved by Reis after a mazy run, and from Brian Mullan who could not keep a close range volley down in the 44th minute.
The Rapids (7-6-9, 31 points) next play Philadelphia away on Friday, July 29th. New England (4-9-8, 20 points) travel to Sporting Kansas City for a July 30th game.
Scoring Summary:
NE -- Benny Feilhaber 1 (Stephen McCarthy 1, Kevin Alston 1) 25
COL -- Caleb Folan 4 (penalty kick) 65
COL -- Kosuke Kimura 1 (Matt Pickens 1) 82
NE -- Shalrie Joseph 6 (penalty kick) 90
New England Revolution -- Matt Reis, Kevin Alston, Darrius Barnes, A.J. Soares, Chris Tierney, Pat Phelan, Shalrie Joseph, Stephen McCarthy (Sainey Nyassi 68), Zack Schilawski (Franco Coria 66), Rajko Lekic (Kenny Mansally 75), Benny Feilhaber.
Substitutes Not Used: Zak Boggs, Diego Fagundez, Ryan Guy, Bobby Shuttleworth.
TOTAL SHOTS: 6 (Shalrie Joseph 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Benny Feilhaber 2); FOULS: 9 (Sainey Nyassi 2, Pat Phelan 2); OFFSIDES: 6 (Pat Phelan 2, Zack Schilawski 2); CORNER KICKS: 1 (Chris Tierney 1); SAVES: 2 (Matt Reis 2)
Colorado Rapids -- Matt Pickens, Kosuke Kimura, Marvell Wynne, Scott Palguta (Andre Akpan 89), Drew Moor, Brian Mullan (Ross LaBauex 86), Pablo Mastroeni, Sanna Nyassi, Jeff Larentowicz, Wells Thompson (Omar Cummings 46), Caleb Folan.
Substitutes Not Used: Mike Holody, Joseph Nane, Tyrone Marshall, Steward Ceus.
TOTAL SHOTS: 7 (Kosuke Kimura 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Kosuke Kimura 2); FOULS: 12 (Marvell Wynne 3); OFFSIDES: 2 (Caleb Folan 1, Sanna Nyassi 1); CORNER KICKS: 5 (Sanna Nyassi 5); SAVES: 1 (Matt Pickens 1)
Misconduct Summary:
NE -- Chris Tierney (ejection; Denied Goal Scoring Opportunity (Foul)) 64
Referee: Geoff Gamble
Referee's Assistants: -Frank Anderson; Brian Poeschel
4th Official: Silviu Petrescu
Attendance: 12,273
Time of Game: 1:51
Weather: Partly Cloudy-and-95-degrees
