Zack Steffen made six saves Saturday night and the Colorado Rapids used an own goal in the second half to secure a 1-1 draw with the visiting New York Red Bulls.
Colorado (11-8-5, 38 points) trailed at halftime but equalized with help from New York defender Sean Nealis. While trying to stop a right-to-left cross into the box by Keegan Rosenberry, Nealis instead deflected the ball past goalie Carlos Coronel in the 64th minute.
Steffen and the Rapids were able to get a point from there. They could have been down by two goals before the half were it not for Steffen’s diving save on Dante Vanzeir’s breakaway down the right side in the 35th minute.
The Red Bulls (9-4-10, 37 points) were outshot 14-11 overall and had just a 40.9 percent possession rate, but they counterattacked effectively, earning a 7-4 advantage in shots on frame. They played for the second straight match without midfielder Emil Forsberg (lower leg injury), who is on the injured list.
Colorado stretched its unbeaten stretch at home to seven matches and stayed in fourth place in the West, while New York remained fourth in the East.
The pregame storyline was how New York would cope with the heat and altitude when Colorado entered with a sparkling 7-2-2 record. Temperature at opening kick was 94 degrees after triple-digit readings during the day in the Denver area.
That might have influenced the Red Bulls’ strategy to pack the defensive zone with all 10 position players in aid of Coronel any time the Rapids cleared midfield. It worked, as Colorado couldn’t generate many legitimate chances on net despite dominating possession time.
New York was able to strike in the first minute of stoppage time in the first half as Vanzeir teed up Lewis Morgan in the 18-yard box. Morgan finished clinically into the right corner of the net for his 10th goal of the year.
–Field Level Media
