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David Zalubowski
Irish Eye

Joy for Kevin Doyle's Colorado Rapids as they see off LA Galaxy

They defeated Robbie Keane’s side after a penalty shoot-out.

COLORADO GOALKEEPER TIM Howard made two saves in a penalty shootout, while Kevin Doyle scored his to advance the Rapids over LA Galaxy in the Major League Soccer playoffs.

Meanwhile, Robbie Keane came on as a substitute for LA Galaxy but didn’t take a penalty.

The Rapids won 3-1 on penalties after a 1-0 victory in the second leg of a two-match Western Conference semi-final series left the teams deadlocked 1-1 on aggregate.

Los Angeles won the opening leg 1-0 at home but lost the second leg 1-0 Sunday on a goal by Colorado’s Swiss midfielder Shkelzen Gashi in the 36th minute.

The triumph puts Colorado into the Western Conference two-leg final against either FC Dallas or the Seattle Sounders, who were set to meet later Sunday.

Seattle have a 3-0 edge after the first leg. The Rapids went 2-0 against Seattle this year with a win and draw against Dallas.

The match could be the final Galaxy appearance for England’s Steven Gerrard, who opened the scoring in the penalty showdown before Doyle equalized for Colorado.

Giovani dos Santos sent his kick over the crossbar to sting the Galaxy and Frenchman Sebastien Le Toux put Colorado ahead to stay with his attempt into the open left half of the net.

England’s Ashley Cole saw his first-ever competitive penalty kick knocked aside by Howard, who dived to his right to deny the Galaxy star.

Colorado’s Marco Pappa put the hosts on the brink with a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner.

Howard ended matters with another diving save to the right to deny the Galaxy’s Jeff Larentowicz.

– © AFP 2016

With additional reporting from Emma Duffy.

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