COMMERCE CITY, CO (April 16, 2016) – By weather and field conditions, it was one for the ages. By quality of play, it wasn’t one to remember. But on Saturday night in the #SnowClasico, the Colorado Rapids defeated New York Red Bulls 2-1.
Initially, there were concerns that the match would need to be rescheduled. It began snowing overnight with between 8-10 inches of snow fall in a 24 hours period. The temperature at kick off was right around freezing and the grounds crew had the field cleared for the game. They did have good practice a few years ago for a World Cup Qualifier match.
Jermaine Jones Bulldogs Rapids Snow Clasico Win
Kick off was delayed briefly to allow the grounds crew to finish clearing the field and to let the players warm up.
The other big story line was the return of U.S. National Team star Jermaine Jones who had finished serving his six game suspension. Jones started in a central play maker role in a 4-2-3-1.
The Rapids started out very positive creating several chances and using the wide play of Marco Pappa and Shkelzen Gashi. The passing and build up play was not pretty due to the surface, which was getting peppered with snow flakes. The way to mitigate that is making passes where you have room for error into space (read: on the wings).
The breakthrough came in the 21st minute, when Mekeil Williams found some space on the wing and fired a cross into the box. Jones found some space between center backs Karl Ouimette and Ronald Zubar, and fired it into the back of the net.
The Red Bulls responded with creating several chances through the middle of park through Sacha Kljestan. The half ended 1-0.
New York continued to push the tempo at the start of the half, winning several free kick opportunities. The breakthrough came off a corner in the 60th minute, when Kljestan found Zubar for a header to tie the game.
The game became stretched after that, with both teams going back and forth taking chances. The Rapids linked up down their left flank in the 82nd minute. Jones won a 50-50 ball outside the box and made a through pass right to substitute Dominique Badji. Badji ran towards goal and put the ball inside the far post to take the lead.
The Red Bulls continued to fight with six minutes of stoppage time added, but to no avail. The game ended 2-1.
The Rapids host Seattle Sounders next Saturday at 7 pm MT. New York hosts Orlando City next Sunday at 5:30 pm MT.
