Wildcard wins for New York and Colorado
The playoffs have begun and already we have two casualties. The New York Red Bulls fought a tough game against FC Dallas to eventually win 2-0 and Colorado Rapids gave Columbus Crew the cold shoulder in a 1-0 win in freezing conditions.
New York and Dallas started really brightly and was a very open affair with good opportunities for both sides. Including a lovely dummy and run from Henry that should have ended better. Dallas should have gone 1-0 up before the break with a great header from Jackson. However in the second half, NY began to get to grips with the game more and went 1-0 up just before the hour mark with Joel Lindpere sticking a leg out to get the goal.
NY then went down to 10 men with a straight red card for Solli who tackled Dallas’s Hernandez from behind. But Dallas, who were marked with tired legs before the game, couldn’t come up with the goods and Henry ended their misery in injury time, rounding the keeper and tapping in for the 2-0 win. The Red Bulls now have a semi-final tie against the LA Galaxy waiting for them in New York on the 30th October.
For Colorado, the game was slow to start in the freezing temperatures. Even two days before the game, the stadium and pitch were covered in snow. Columbus Crew were knocked out last year by the Rapids and history was destined to repeat itself. Struggling to get into the game, it took them over the hour to get a decent attack going. But the Rapids had already got their goal during injury time in the first half. A nice pass and move between Kimura and Mullan ended up at the feet of Jamaican Omar Cummings running into the right hand side of the penalty box, and then turning the ball into the net leaving the Crew shipwrecked. Hopefully Colorado can put up a better show of form when they host Sporting Kansas City, who as top seeds will not give them an easy time of it.
You can see how the Western and Eastern Conference semi-finals go over at the MLS website or there is also some action on TV. ESPN will be showing the Real Salt Lake vs Seattle Sounders game at 6am on Sunday 30th and later in the day, will have the NY Red Bulls v LA Galaxy and the Philadelphia Union v Houston Dynamo games live from 7pm.
