The New York Red Bulls take on the Colorado Rapids at Red Bull Arena today in a battle of teams looking to solidify their holds on playoff spots (4pm, Telefutura).

The match-up features two of the best forward tandems in Major League Soccer, with Thierry Henry and Juan Pablo Angel looking to outduel Rapids tandem Conor Casey and Omar Cummings.

The Red Bulls have solidified their playoff place, but the Rapids are still in the thick of the chase for a post-season berth, having won a pair of blowouts in recent weeks to catapult themselves into a playoff spot.

The Red Bulls will look to rebound from a 1-0 loss to Real Salt Lake last week, with the return of Rafael Marquez, Dane Richards, Roy Miller and Bouna Coundoul from international duty.

I will be providing commentary on today's match so please feel free to follow along here. As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action (Commentary is after the jump):

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FINAL– That's all for me today. Please share your post-game thoughts in the comments section below.

Thanks for following along today. 

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FINAL– Dane Richards played another great game, Tim Ream rebounded well with his own solid effort and Thierry Henry looked even sharper today as he continues to work his way into full fitness/sharpness. Handily beating a Colorado team that came in off two straight wins has to be a confidence booster as the Red Bulls start preparing for the playoffs. They very well could face these same Rapids in the playoffs. 

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FINAL– Colorado got off to a slow start and never did challenge New York today. Omar Cummings gave the team some hope with a great goal, but the second-half surge wasn't enough as New York held firm and delivered another home victory. 

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FINAL– Red Bulls 3, Rapids 1.  Tim Ream is voted Man of the Match today. A quality team performance from New York today. Started strong and closed it out.

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94th Minute-  Almost done here.

Just noticed a large contingent of Arsenal fans in the upper deck. Assuming they're here for Henry, and not Colorado (though Colorado's owner does own a big chunk of Arsenal.

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89th Minute-  Kandji comes in for Angel, who didn't have any clear chances but who did help create the Richards goal.

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85th Minute-  SAVE COUNDOUL! Goes down well to stop a Ballouchy shot. Still 3-1 Red Bulls.

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84th Minute-  SAVE PICKENS! Slaps away an Henry shot after a nice long pass springs him in the area.

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79th Minute-  Marquez left the match with a left ankle injury.

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78th Minute-  This game has gotten very physical and it wouldn't shock me to see a red card soon.

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74th Minute-  Marquez getting clapped by the crowd as he limps around to get to the bench. Good game for him today before  the injury.

Scott Palguta has come in for Julien Baudet, who was hurt.

Marquez looks to be okay as he gets to the bench. Long week for him, playing for Mexico against Ecuador at mid-week.

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72nd Minute-  Stammler comes in for Marquez.

Lopez came in for Mastroeni, now Danny Earls looks set to come in for Colorado.

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71st Minute-  Thompson fouled Marquez hard, kneeing him in the leg. Marquez is still down and will be stretchered off.

Thompson has been running around like a chicken with its head cut off since he came into the match.

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70th Minute-  So it's 3-1 and Cummings looks like he could score another. Backe should just put Richards on Cummings and let them race each other around the field. Ream and Mendes want no part of a foot race with Cummings.

Here comes Claudio Lopez.

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67th Minute-  Wells Thompson is set to come in for Colorado.

Rapids coach Gary Smith is livid after a no-call on a Ream-Cummings challenge in the area. Looked like a 50-50, but Cummings did get his shoulder ahead of Ream's so it could have been a penalty.

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62nd Minute– Richards intercepts a Rapids pass and breaks out on a 2-on-1, but he delivers his pass too late and it's intercepted. Red Bulls corner.

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60th Minute– Sorry for some lag, had some technical issues.

Colorado came out flying to start the half before Cummings belted a Goal of the Year candidate. New York has responded with its own goal on a turnover forced by Angel and a neat finish by Richards, who has played well today.

Can the Rapids keep up this energy and fight back again?

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58th Minute- GOAL RED BULLS!!! ANd it's Dane Richards who collects a loose ball in the area and beats Pickens. Angel got a piece of the ball that produced a Rapids turnover in their area. Red Bulls 3, Rapids 1.

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52nd Minute- GOAL RAPIDS!!!!! ANd it's Omar Cummings with a BEAUTIFUL finish after a long run from midfield. He hit that from 25 yards out into the top left corner. WOW. Red Bulls 2, Rapids 1.

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50th Minute– Much better stuff from Colorado in the second half. Better passing and movement, with Ballouchy much more involved early on.

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HALFTIME– Red Bulls 2, Rapids 0. Quality first half from the Red Bulls as

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45th Minute– Larentowicz has a blast from distance that doesn't miss by much.

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44th Minute– Smith with a nice look from distance but Coundoul handles it. Promising passing sequence from Colorado led to that half-chance.

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41st Minute– Cummings draws a foul at the midfield stripe. He's having to drop into the defensive have to see any of the ball.

New York is winning the battle in central midfield, with Tchani out-playing Mastroeni so far.

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39th Minute– Ballouchy has a go from about 25 and sends it high.

Loving this Marquez-Mastroeni battle.

ESC is chanting "Easy Pick-ens!" Nice touch.

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36th Minute– Gary Smith may want to consider getting Claudio Lopez into this match. The lineup needs some creativity. Right now you've got Mehdi Ballouchy and Jamie Smith providing nothing.

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32nd Minute- GOAL RED BULLS!!! And it's Tim Ream with the finish. Great back-post run to finish Tony Tchani's pass off a corner. Red Bulls 2, Rapids 0.

That's Tim Ream's first career MLS goal.

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30th Minute– Yellow card issued to Chris Albright for an off-the-ball challenge.

Will Colorado find some chances? They need to find Cummings, who hasn't been involved the past 15 minutes.

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29th Minute– Henry and Angel work a great give-and-go that forces a handball right on the edge of the area from Drew Moor. The free kick is wasted though.

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26th Minute– Henry looks hurt. He took a knock and is trying to work out the kink. He doesn't look long for this game.

Marquez just got wiped out by Jamie Smith, drawing a yellow card.

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24th Minute– Henry races onto a perfectly-timed long pass, but rushes his shot and hits a soft dribbler that's easy for Pickens to save.

Henry looks good today, that last shot notwithstanding. He looks like he has another goal in him today.

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22nd Minute– Not much in the way of creativity from the Rapids midfield, but Cummings is so dangerous you figure he will create a few chances before the day is done.

Red Bulls corner.

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18th Minute– The play started with Henry racing onto a long-pass then chipping a pass to Lindpere, who delivered a perfect back-heel pass to a streaking Henry. The Frenchman beat Pickens with a hard shot from the left side of the area. That was classic Henry.

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17th Minute- GOAL RED BULLS!!!! And it's Henry with a beautiful finish, buries a sweet back-heel pass from Lindpere. Red Bulls 1, Rapids 0. Great goal, better pass.

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16th Minute– Wallace is struggling with Richards, but I'm not sure Danny Earls or Scott Palguta could do much better.

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15th Minute– HENRY JUST WIDE!! He took a pass in the area and fired a shot that beat Pickens but curled wide of the post.

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13th Minute– SAVE PICKENS! A great flying header from Angel is saved by a diving Pickens stop.

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11th Minute– Short corner is cleared out.

Most interesting thing about the Marquez free kick is that it was taken just as ESC was putting up an American flag display and chanting USA. They would have gone crazy if Marquez had scored. Isn't that just a bit bizarro?

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11th Minute– Marquez's free kick is headed clear for a corner.

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10th Minute– Richards with a dangerous run down the middle of the field that forces a foul from Anthony Wallace. Yellow card and dangerous free kick for Rafa Marquez to take.

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9th Minute– Some great back-and-forth as both teams are breaking into quick counters. This pace won't keep up.

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7th Minute– Cummings responds with his own dangerous dribble into the area, but his cross goes begging. The Jamaicans look good early today.

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5th Minute– Richards with a beautiful run that beat three defenders before he had his shot saved by Pickens. Great moves in the area. He's playing with a lot of confidence.

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3rd Minute– Uneven start as neither side has found any rhythm. More headed balls than actual passes to feet.

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2nd Minute– Tim Ream will have his hands full facing the speedy Omar Cummings. He will be looking to rebound from his shaky effort against RSL last week.

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1st Minute– We're off. 

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PRE-GAME– If you will be following my commentary today please let me know, and let me know where you're following from.

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PRE-GAME– Teams are lining up pe-game on this beautiful day. Crowd isn't quite here yet.

There is pre-game ceremony to honor the victims of 9/11.

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PRE-GAME– The battle in central midfield will be especially interesting to watch, with Mastroeni and Larentowicz forming one of the tougher tandems in the league while Marquez and Tchani have also played well together.

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PRE-GAME– Here are the lineups:

RED BULLS

————Henry———–Angel————-

Lindpere——————————-Richards

—————Marquez—Tchani—————

Miller——-Ream———–Mendes—-Albright

——————–Coundoul———————-

RAPIDS

————-Casey———Cummings———–

Smith————————————Ballouchy

————Mastroeni—-Larentowicz————

Wallace——Baudet——Moor———-Kimura

——————–Pickens————————

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PRE-GAME– It is a beautiful day in Harrison and the crowds outside Red Bull Arena suggest that we will have a good-sized crowd for this one.

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