A meticulous note-taker, Juan Carlos Osorio didn't need to look too deep into his notebook to find where it went wrong for the New York Red Bulls in a 1-1 draw with the New England Revolution Saturday night at Giants Stadium.
"If you look at the chances, I only recall one chance and that was it," the Red Bulls coach said.
That one chance was a free kick in the 56th minute from just outside the box that Jeff Larentowicz buried for the Revs, which rallied from a goal down and a man down to forge a tie with their Eastern Conference rivals.
More than the controversial call by referee Ricardo Salazar, what upset Osorio was the play of Chris Leitch on the wall that was set up for the free kick. Leitch jumped and turned his back on the attempt, and Larentowicz was able to find the hole to put his low shot past Jon Conway and inside the far post for the equalizer.
"I'm disappointed at the wall and I think we have enough numbers on the wall, but it's an inside shot. It's not even instep, it's not even a hard shot and it's down low," Osorio said. "If I would have been standing on that wall I would have put my face to that ball, and that's what I expect from my players and they know."
Leitch also created the foul that resulted in the Larentowicz free kick.
"I might have clipped him," Leitch said of Adam Cristman. "I think we had two or three guys in the box so it's unfortunate. A little graze puts him on the floor that hard, rolling around like he was shot. But that's his job, too."
Leitch, who bore the brunt of Osorio's ire in the locker room after the game, said he was supposed to be positioned at the far post to defend the ball over the top. But he was pulled to the wall when a pair of Revs players moved to the end of it.
"Honestly I don't remember turning my back," he said. "I must have if that's what coach says. If that's the case, that is disappointing."
To that point, everything was shaping up for the first Red Bulls win in the rivalry since Sept. 17, 2005. Jozy Altidore scored a brilliant first-half goal and just one minute into the second half, New England's Mauricio Castro was sent off with a straight red card for kicking Kevin Goldthwaite in the groin after being knocked to the ground by the Red Bulls defender.
But the feeling in the locker room after the game was a sour one because the Red Bulls believe they let two valuable points slip away.
"The team played well," Carlos Mendes said. "We really didn't give them anything. We limited their chances and we're disappointed we came away with a tie. We're at home, playing like that, we should get the 'W.'
As was the case the last time the two teams played, the Red Bulls' two designated players left the field with injury. Juan Pablo Angel, who missed last Saturday's 2-0 loss at FC Dallas because of a left hamstring strain, started against the Revs, but re-aggravated the injury. He was replaced by John Wolyniec at halftime.
Wolyniec was the Red Bulls most dangerous attacking threat in the second half, but he couldn't put one of his three shots past Matt Reis. His best chance was his first, when he slid in and put Danleigh Borman's sublime cross over the crossbar from the top of the six-yard box.
"Danleigh put in a great ball and I knew it was coming, I gave a good effort to get there, hit it solid and I just couldn't believe it went over," Wolyniec said. "It was right where I wanted it."
Claudio Reyna left the match with a right knee injury in the 77th minute and was replaced by Mike Magee.
"It was swelling up," Reyna said. "It should be fine with a few days off the turf."
Altidore caused the Revs' three-man backline fits in the first half and it resulted in the game's first goal on the half hour. Taking a pass from Reyna, he turned around Amaechi Igwe, split he and Jeff Larentowicz and then rifled a 17-yard shot under the crossbar for his first goal of the year.
"There was a ton of space there and I just went at Igwe, actually I played with him before so I know his strengths and weaknesses, I went at him and I had a good shot," Altidore said.
But Altidore was less effective in the second half, a by-product of a hectic national team schedule, according to Osorio.
"He played well, but if I'm honest, I think he has played too much football in the last three months and I think we are playing for it," he said.
The 18-year-old, though, wouldn't use that as an excuse.
"I'm not a guy for excuses," Altidore said. "I just thought I could have been more effective, I could have added more to the game to help this team get a victory. I recognize that (now), but it's too late. I should have recognized it through the game. That's my fault on that."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
