Bruce Arena didn't need to go back and watch the tape of the game to know what plagued the Red Bulls in a 2-2 draw with Real Salt Lake Saturday night at Giants Stadium.
It came down to two things, according to the Red Bulls boss.
"To me, it was simply a few miscues and poor finishing," he said.
That's not a good combination, especially when you're a team trying to lock down a playoff berth.
"It was very disappointing tonight," Juan Pablo Angel said. "We wanted to get the three points. I think we start off the game well, but we keep giving up goals we should (not allow). I believe two or three chances they have and they score two goals."
For a second straight game, the Red Bulls needed a late equalizer from Angel to come away with a home draw. The Colombian's penalty kick 10 minutes from full time leveled the game at 2 and his 17th goal of the season set the club's record for single-season goals.
He passed fellow Colombian Adolfo Valencia, who set the mark in 2000. But after the game, a disappointed Angel wasn't thinking about the record.
"I'm happy, but today was more about a playoff spot, it was about winning the game. It wasn't about breaking the record," he said. "I'm more concerned about doing well as a team."
Despite having the better of play in the first half, the Red Bulls trailed 1-0 in the 22nd minute on Chris Brown's fourth goal of the season. On the play, Chris Wingert hit a wide-open Brown at the far post and the forward's glancing bouncing header beat Ronald Waterreus inside the near post.
"The marking was atrocious on the back post," Arena said. "There were a number of white jerseys that could have made a play and picked up or marked someone there."
After the goal, Waterreus stared down Chris Leitch, who lost Brown on the goal.
"Sometimes you get surprised in that situation," Waterreus said.
After leveling the score four minutes into the second half on Francis Doe's second goal in as many games, once again poor defending led to Real Salt Lake's second goal as an unmarked Kyle Beckerman tapped the ball past Waterreus on 75 minutes.
"We've been playing well, over the last four or five games, we're getting more solid going forward, we're creating chances, but we've got to do better," Angel said. "If we want to go somewhere, we got to start from the back, being solid from the back."
Angel had a game-high eight shots, but couldn't beat Rimando. Dave van den Bergh had a chance in the 69th minute, but his 14-yard shot was saved by Rimando. Jozy Altidore had an opportunity two minutes from full time, but his low shot was wide of the far post. And twice in the second half, RSL defenders cleared shots off the line.
"We had chances to get the third one," Arena said. "We didn't finish off the chances we created tonight."
With three games remaining, the Red Bulls moved three points in front of idle Kansas City in third place in the Eastern Conference. But they squandered yet another chance to secure three points, missing another opportunity to clinch a playoff berth. And, to make matters worse, they lost Claudio Reyna to a left toe sprain in the 58th minute.
"It's good to just keep going, to keep believing in ourselves and at the end get a draw, but it was a matter of getting three points today," Angel said. "We were playing for a playoff spot today."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
