E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. - For three years, Dema Kovalenko was on the other side of the rivalry, giving the likes of Amado Guevara fits and winning MLS Cups with D.C. United. But on Wednesday, he was on the other side, working alongside the Honduran international with the New York Red Bulls and helping his new team earn a scoreless draw against his old team.
"It's easy to combine with him. He's very good on the ball, he's got a very good understanding and I'm very happy playing next to Amado," Kovalenko said. "Even when I was playing against him with D.C. and Chicago, I always said I want to have a guy like that on my team. It's good to be next to him."
Kovalenko normally plays on the left side of midfield, but with Danny O'Rourke serving a one-game suspension, he slid into the defensive midfielder spot, right behind Guevara, and looked like a natural.
After making his presence known by cutting down Brian Carroll 24 seconds into the match, Kovalenko all but shut down D.C.'s engine, Christian Gomez. The result was few scoring chances for the league's top scoring team and United's first shutout of the year.
"I think we took Christian out of the game today and Jaime [Moreno], they couldn't really connect and do anything," Kovalenko said. "Unfortunately we didn't win. I thought we were the better team today. They're a very good team and we have to respect them but today we were the better team."
In their first game together, Kovalenko and Guevara combined well, like they've been playing together for years.
"We knew Dema from already from before, we know he's a great player not only going forward but when he gets the ball he knows what to do with the ball," Guevara said through an interpreter. "We're very fortunate to have him on our team and he helped us today."
Kovalenko wasn't the only one making his Red Bulls debut. Bruce Arena returned to MLS for the first time since leading United to a pair of MLS Cups and a U.S. Open Cup crown. His mere presence appeared to give the Red Bulls a swagger they hadn't had before. There was a confidence against D.C., even though the last time the two teams met, United thrashed the Red Bulls 4-1 at Giants Stadium on April 22.
Wednesday, the Red Bulls had the better of possession, the better opportunities and deserved to come away with three points. Still, they extended their league unbeaten streak to five games and pushing D.C. to a season-high three games without a win.
"I think for the most part we controlled the game. They had a chance at the end to win the game and we have to sort of eliminate that," Tony Meola said. "For the most part I thought we were the better team. Nobody was happy with a tie tonight, [we were] happy with the effort we put in and we should be, happy with the organization but I thought everybody here thought that was a game we should have won."
And the Red Bulls were a controversial non-call by referee Mauricio Navarro from a late penalty kick when a shot by Youri Djorkaeff deflected off Bryan Namoff's left arm.
"It was a good game," said Djorkaeff, who played in his first MLS game since June 28. "We wait for the penalty but the referee didn't give it to us. They are a good team. We played very well. We looked like a team, like a group and that's important."
Said Arena of the tie, the Red Bulls' 10th of the season: "I think it's a good one, because I think our guys played a pretty good game. [They had] good concentration, good movement as a team, created some chances, maybe a little unlucky not to get that one call for a handball but it was a pretty good effort on our part. I was pleased with the guys."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
