The New York Red Bulls went into Livestrong Sporting Park hoping to pull off an upset and grab first place in the Eastern Conference back from Sporting Kansas City.
They fell short of that goal, but still came away with a result that keeps them very much in position to potentially catching Sporting KC further down the road.
Thanks to a Kei Kamara own goal that canceled out Kamara's own fourth-minute goal for the home team, the Red Bulls came away with a 1-1 draw on Sunday. The tie kept New York two points behind Sporting KC for first place in the East with two more match-ups between the two teams coming in the next six weeks.
Sporting KC enjoyed a dream start when Kamara headed home a Teal Bunbury pass into an open net in the fourth minute after Red Bulls goalkeeper Bill Gaudette got caught off his line. Sporting KC controlled the matches for long stretches, but couldn't break through a resolute Red Bulls defense, which tightened up after that early blunder.
The Red Bulls equalized in the 28th minute when a Sebastien LeToux free kick aimed at Tim Cahill forced Kamara to head the ball into his own net.
The rest of the match was a physical and scrappy fight that included 32 fouls and five yellow cards. The Red Bulls nearly stole the game late, but Dax McCarty took a bad touch on a clear chance in the dying seconds.
Here are the match highlights:
What did you think of the match? Who impresssed you on the night? See the Red Bulls catching Sporting KC for first place in the East?
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