New York Red Bulls Vs. Colorado Rapids: Halftime 2-2: Questionable Penalty Ignites Scoring

As a 100% neutral watching the first half of the match (Honest. I swear!), the "plan of attack" used by the New York Red Bulls was really disappointing. Despite their talented midfield, they seemed content to launch long balls up to Luke Rodgers and Thierry Henry. They were finally able to get the ball to the feet of Dwayne De Rosario, and the Canadian midfielder made an instant impact. DeRo was out wide on the right and played a near inch perfect cross in to Rodgers. The ball appeared that it was going to be an easy tap-in for Rodgers, but Rapids defender Kosuke Kimura came flying out of nowhere to clear the ball to safety.

In the 26th minute, Roy Miller would knock Andre Akpan over in the general vicinity of the penalty area. The Rapids were awarded a penalty. I say general vicinity, because replays would clearly show that the contact occurred outside of the box and Akpan fell into it. Jeff Larentowicz stepped up to take the penalty for Colorado. Greg Sutton would guess right and save the penalty, but the ball rolled right back to Larentowicz who scored the rebound to give the Rapids a 1-0 lead.

Just minutes later Henry would be booked for a hard foul on Wells Thompson just outside the Red Bulls penalty area. Pablo Mastroeni would touch the free kick allowing Larentowicz to smash home another goal. The Rapids jumped back on top 2-1.