The Seattle Sounders and Colorado Rapids drew 1-1 on Wednesday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo.
Dominique Badji scored in the 66th minute when he headed home a corner kick from Jack Price before Cristian Roldan equalized in the 81st minute to split the points.
Seattle took 20 minutes or so to grow into the match and had the better chances in the first half but was unable to find the breakthrough.
Fredy Montero thought he opened the scoring in the 20th minute when he beat goalkeeper William Yarbrough to a loose ball and finished from distance, but the goal was waved off for offside.
Montero then had another chance in the 43rd minute when he put a one-timed effort in the box over the crossbar.
JoĂ£o Paulo almost scored another golazo against Colorado in the 54th minute when he danced through the Rapids defense, but his shot was saved by Yarbrough.
The Sounders pushed after Badji gave the Rapids the lead and found the answer through Roldan, who scored his sixth goal of the season. Substitute LĂ©o ChĂº worked the left side of the box before laying it back into the run of Roldan, who finished a one-timer from close range.
THREE TAKEAWAYS
Tight at the top
The Sounders’ point is a valuable one, especially in that it denies Colorado from taking three points and making up ground. Seattle leads the West with 58 points, while Colorado remains in third place and six points back. Sporting Kansas City stays in second with 52 points as well, but SKC owns the total wins tiebreaker over Colorado and also has a match in hand on both the Sounders and the Rapids.
Roldan to the rescue
Perhaps no one in the league is better at late-arriving runs into the box than Roldan, who bagged his fifth goal in his last six matches for the Sounders in all competitions to steal a crucial road point.
Quick turnaround
The Sounders will have to move on quickly from Wednesday’s result, as they host Sporting Kansas City on Saturday at Lumen Field (12:30 p.m. PT; Univision, Twitter, FOX 13+, Prime Video, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360AM | TICKETS). Seattle and SKC have split their two meetings this season, with the visitors taking all three points in each match.
