NY's Brandon Barklage and Chivas' Juan Pablo Angel fight for the ball (Getty Images)
One couldn't fault either New York Red Bulls or Chivas USA fans for being confident ahead of this match. Coming in the Red Bulls had won four matches in a row and Chivas USA was coming off of a win over the LA Galaxy for the first time in five years. Chivas was without newly acquired star forward Juan Agudelo as he is away with the national team, but they did have former Red Bulls man Juan Pablo Angel, and he had a big night.
Chivas had the first chance of the match in the second minute when Nick LaBrocca sent a shot in that was well saved by Ryan Meara. However, a short time later LaBrocca went down with an apparent hamstring injury and was subbed off.
After the initial exchanges New York took charge for awhile and looked pretty good doing it. Thierry Henry got the ball after Chivas turned it over in their own end on 12 minutes, but sent his shot wide. Kenny Cooper let a drive a go in the 19th, but hit it right at Dan Kennedy in goal.
The best chance of the half ended up falling to Angel and Chivas USA though. In the 25th minute the former Aston Villa man got a great look, but hammered his shot off the post. Roy Miller would have a good look for the Red Bulls in the 40th, but coming into the six he faced a tough angle and elected to shoot instead of make the easy pass. The ball rolled harmlessly wide of the far post and the teams went to halftime still at 0-0.
Business picked up right away in the second half though. Chivas sent in a corner kick in the 47th minute that found the head of center back Rauwshan McKenzie. McKenzie headed it down, and Juan Pablo Angel pulled a nice overhead/scorpion type kick out of his bag of tricks and sent the ball flying into the Red Bulls' net to make it 0-1 to the Goats.
The Red Bulls did respond though as they started to push for the equalizer almost right away. Henry had a nice snap header saved by Kennedy in the 52nd minute, but the Red Bulls knotted things up in the 56th. Brandon Barklage put a gorgeous entry ball down the pitch to the feet of Dane Richards, who slotted the ball across the 18 to an oncoming Kenny Cooper. Coop calmly touched the ball past Kennedy for the game tying goal at 1-1.
The Red Bulls had the best chances for a winner as they tried to claim their 5th straight win, but it just wasn't to be. In the 83rd minute Dax McCarty put a header on goal from a corner kick that beat Kennedy toward the far post. Unfortunately for New York, Chivas man Ante Jazic was there to clear the ball off the line to preserve the 1-1 draw at full time.
NOTES: The NYRB supporters showed a lot of class, with multiple tifo honoring Juan Pablo Angel throughout the ground. Angel refused to celebrate his goal, returning the classy behavior. The Red Bulls did not use a single sub. They now head into the international/US Open Cup break with their next league match on June 17 at Chicago. Chivas is now undefeated in 3. They host Seattle this weekend before they begin the break.
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