Good evening folks. The Colorado Rapids are at Giants Stadium tonight to take on the New York Red Bulls in a crucial match for both teams. The Red Bulls will be looking to keep their hold on fourth place in the Eastern Conference with a win tonight, while Colorado will try to maintain their own hold on a Western Conference playoff spot.
I will be providing running commentary throughout the night so be sure to follow along here for the latest information and analysis on the match. The commentary is under way so follow along after the jump.
Enjoy the match.
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FINAL- Rapids 5, Red Bulls 4. The offense was promising, the defense terrifying (at least in the first half).
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91st minute– This has got to be killing Osorio tonight. His offense comes up with four goals, but the defense puts out an atrocious first half and puts them in this position.
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90th minute- GOAL RAPiDS!! And it’s Conor Casey with the beautiful volleye goal off a long cross from Ballouchy. Rapids 5, Red Bulls 4.
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88th minute– Conway with another clutch save, this time on Clark.
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86th minute– I’m going to say it now. Kandji and Mbuta stay in the lineup the rest of the year (if healthy).
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85th minute– Greg Dalby just came into the match for Omar Cummings. And no, Christian Gomez hasn’t come in. He won’t be coming in. He’s so far in the Rapids doghouse he needs a long elevator ride to see sunlight.
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82nd minute– Can the Red Bulls find a game-winner? Their offense certainly looks capable and you have to think the Rapids back-line is feeling a bit tired right now.
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79th minute– The Red Bulls are on the prowl right now and I would argue that this is their most dangerous lineup this year, at least in terms of mobility. Kandji and Mbuta give the team sorely-needed speed.
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75th minute– Now if that isn’t goal of the week I don’t know what is. Beautiful combination play between the newcomers and Mbuta with a clinical finish. That sound you hear is MLS scouts booking travel plans to go scout USL players ASAP.
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74th minute- GOAL RED BULLS!!!! Mbuta with a beautiful volley finish off a perfect Kandji pass.
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72nd minute– Parke barely avoided his Jeff Agoos impressing by swinging wildly on a clearance attempt.
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70th minute– Matt Mbuta has come in for Carlos Mendes. Mbuta is on the right wing now, with Magee sliding in centrally and Seth Stammler shifting to right back.
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69th minute– Kandji and Magee have swapped spots. Now Kandji is up top.
Richards has a hyperextended right knee.
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68th minute– Boyens with a yellow card. That means Boyens will miss the Red Bulls’ game vs. Toronto FC.
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67th minute– Kandji hasn’t made much if an impact early on, but hasn’t really had service yet.
Tonight’s attendance is 14,795.
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64th minute– Conway with a great reaction save on LaBrocca
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60th minute– Mendes with a yellow card for persistent infringement.
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57th minute– Kandji is starting out on the right flank. He is a big boy for those who hadn’t seen him on the field before. At 6-foot-4 with very good speed, Kandji is a match-up nightmare.
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55th minute– Kandji has entered the match, making him the 5,000th player in club history (okay, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration.
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55th minute– The bad news is that Richards will be coming out. The good news is that the Mac Kandji era is set to begin.
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54th minute– Richards looks like he’s struggling with his knee and may be done for the game.
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52nd minute– Richards is back on the field.
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50th minute– Dane Richards is down after a nasty collision with Preston Burpo.
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48th minute– Red Bulls are running this right now:
————————Angel————————
Rojas—————–Magee—————-Richards
———–Pietravallo——–Stammler————–
Jimenez—–Boyens——–Parke———-Mendes
———————-Conway—————————–
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47th minute– Osorio scrapped the three-man defense for a four-man defense. The only problem is Mendes hasn’t played right back in a game since April (that I can remember). If he holds up, and Parke and Boyens can keep Cummings contained, the Red Bulls might have a chance to stop the Rapids freight train.
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46th minute– And we’re back.
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HALFTIME– We might have a major tactical change, with Mendes moving to right back, and Parke sliding in centrally next to Boyens in a four-man back-line.
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HALFTIME– Boyens is the only halftime change for the Red Bulls.
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HALFTIME– One of the substitutions for the Red Bulls is Gabriel Cichero coming out for Andrew Boyens. Osorio didn’t have much of a choice considering the way Cichero played in the first half.
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HALFTIME– The bleeding has stopped, well only by the halftime whistle. Talk about a back-and-forth affair. The good news for the Red Bulls is that they keep finding chances. The bad news is that their defense has been beaten like a Pinata tonight.
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45th minute– Gabriel Cichero has three assists tonight. Unfortunately, all three were on Rapids goals.
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45th minute– Pietravallo with a completely unnecesssary foul on LaBrocca to set up that PK.
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45th minute- GOAL RAPiDS!!! Conor Casey converts the penalty kick to give Colorado a 4-3 lead. WOW.
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44th minute- RAPIDS WITH A PENALTY!!! Pietravallo fouls LaBrocca in the area from behind.
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43rd minute- GOAL RAPIDS!!! And it’s Mike Petke pounced on the poor clearance. WE’re tied at 3-3.
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43rd minute– Great work from Pietravallo on the Richards goal, stripping Casey and fin
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41st minute– Red Bulls 3, Rapids 2. Not sure anybody saw this one being a shoot-out but Red Bulls fans won’t complain.
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40th minute- GOAL RED BULLS!!! Dane Richards with the speedy run and finish off a great one-time pass from Rojas on the wing.
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37th minute– On the replay it looked as if the ball hit Mastroeni’s chest before his hand but the call was made.
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34th minute- GOAL RED BULLS!!! Juan Pablo Angel with the Penalty kick finish. Mastroeni with the handball call.
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33rd minute- Red Bulls WITH A PENALTY. Rapids with a handball in the box.
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32nd minute– Nothing comes from the corner. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Osorio make wholesale changes at halftime. He can’t be happy with this performance.
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31st minute– Red Bulls with a corner.
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30th minute– Another player who has looked extremely shaky tonight is Cichero. That’s a bit of a shock considering how good he has looked in previous games. I don’t think he feels entirely comfortable as the lone center back in a three-man defense.
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29th minute– Colorado just showing more hustle tonight. Doesn’t look good.
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27th minute– Still waiting for Rojas to assert himself tonight. He has been largely invisible.
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18th minute– What a waste of a free kick by Rojas.
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17th minute– Sure looked like a handball on Harvey inside the box. Ref gives it outside the box.
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15th minute– Not a great early performance from Mendes so far. Actually, the entire Red Bulls back-line looks shell-shocked.
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13th minute– Cichero and Mendes were the defenders beaten on Casey’s goal. Casey made a great run to latch onto a perfect pass from Cummings. What a night for Cummings so far against the team that tried to trade for him.
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11th minute- GOAL COLORADO. Unbelievable breakdown by the Red Bulls as Casey splits the defense and scores to put the Rapids ahead.
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5th minute- GOAL RED BULLS!!!!!!!!!! And it’s Mike Magee with the classy left-footed finish. WOW
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5th minute- Nightmare start for the Red Bulls as Conway gets caught off his line, leaving Cummings with a wide-open net to slot home from. Awful
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3rd minute- GOAL COLORADO!!! Omar Cummings with the finish after Jon Conway collided with Conor Casey off his line.
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1st minute– We’re off
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PRE-GAME– Kevin Goldthwaite is serving a one-game suspension due to a red card vs. Columbus while Dave Van Den Bergh is out after having sports hernia surgery.
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PRE-GAME– If you’re a believer in stats you might want to consider the Red Bulls home record (8-1-3) and Colorado’s road record (2-8-2). The Rapids did crush the Red Bulls on July 4th, 4-0, but the Red Bulls have been much better at Giants Stadium this season.
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PRE-GAME– Look for Seth Stammler to play a more offensive-minded role tonight. The lineup might lead you to believe that they will play a 4-4-2 with Mendes in central defense, but Mendes should be in a defensive midfield role, while Stammler looks to push forward. The Red Bulls have struggled to generate offense in recent weeks and Stammler has shown in the past that if assigned to get into the attack, he can contribute.
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PRE-GAME– Those of you wondering where Mac Kandji is, the word I got was that Juan Carlos Osorio didn’t feel his ankle was ready to handle starting. He will definitely make an appearance tonight though.
As for Colorado, Terry Cooke has a slight injury, which is why he’s on the bench. Take a look at the talent on Rapids bench. Pretty impressive.
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PRE-GAME– Here’s Colorado’s lineup
—————Casey———Cummings—————
———————-Ballouchy————————-
Clark—————————————-LaBrocca
———————Mastroeni———————–
Harvey——-Gibbs——Petke————–Kimura
———————Burpo—————————-
BENCH– Coundoul, Burciaga, Dalby, Gomez, Ihemelu, Cooke, Peterson.
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PRE-GAME– Here’s the Red Bulls lineup:
——————-Angel——–Magee—————
Rojas——————Stammler————Richards
—————Pietravallo—-Mendes—————-
Jimenez—————-Cichero—————Parke
————————Conway————————-
BENCH– Cepero, Boyens, Leitch, Wolyniec, Kandji, Ubiparipovic, Mbuta
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PRE-GAME– Dane Richards has been called up by Jamaica for its upcoming qualifiers against Mexico and Honduras on Oct. 11 and 15, meaning he will miss the Red Bulls game at Real Salt Lake on Oct. 9. Jorge Rojas and Gabriel Cichero are also set to miss the RSL match after being called up by Venezuela for qualifying.
26th minute– Red Bulls not showing anything offensively right now. Jorge Rojas needs to assert himself.
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21st minute– Still waiting to see Seth Stammler get involved in the attack. If he can’t, look for Osorio to push him back and insert Mac Kandji at halftime
21st minute– Still waiting to see Seth Stammler get involved in the attack. If he can’t, look for Osorio to push him back and insert Mac Kandji at halftime