KANSAS CITY - Neither team could hold on to the lead, so the Kansas City Wizards and New York Red Bulls settled for a 2-2 draw Wednesday at Arrowhead Stadium.
Both teams needed a victory to help separate themselves in the tightly packed Eastern Conference standings. The draw means the Wizards remain in fourth place, one point ahead of the Red Bulls.
Kansas City's Scott Sealy and the Red Bulls' John Wolyniec scored two minutes apart in the first half. Then Todd Dunivant gave the visitors the lead in the second half, but Josh Wolff scored the equalizer shortly thereafter.
The Red Bulls created the best scoring chances in the first 20 minutes, the first coming in the eighth minute.
Dema Kovalenko played a diagonal ball from the center of the field to his left, finding Amado Guevara. The Red Bulls captain's strength on the ball in the area was good but Wizards midfielder Davy Arnaud disrupted Guevara's shot enough to make it easy for goalkeeper Bo Oshoniyi to scoop.
Wizards defender Nick Garcia left the game in the 10th minute and walked to the dressing room. He suffered a strained left groin, and Tyson Wahl came in as his substitute.
Wolyniec had two good looks in the penalty area in the 14th minute, one on a pass from Youri Djorkaeff and then from Dunivant. But Oshoniyi saved Wolyniec's shot at the left post and Wolyniec was unable to get a good shot on the other attempt.
The Wizards built a good scoring opportunity in the 17th minute when midfielder Sasha Victorine almost got a foot to a free kick by Jose Burciaga Jr.
Burciaga curled a left-footed service from the right wing about 40 yards from goal. The ball curled to the left post and Red Bulls goalkeeper Tony Meola seemed frozen on his line, but the ball squirted over the end line.
Burciaga had a similar free kick from near the same spot in the 26th minute, but neither midfielder Dave van den Bergh nor Wahl could make a connection.
Sealy then scored the game's first goal for the second consecutive game. Burciaga's long diagonal ball was touched by a Red Bulls defender but not out of Sealy's path. Sealy dribbled into the right side of the area then shot past Meola in the 28th minute.
The Red Bulls almost equalized in the next minute, then struck in the 30th minute on a goal from Wolyniec. Guevara did almost all of the work, though, dribbling past Arnaud in tight spaces in the area, then eluding Oshoniyi, who had come off his line. Guevara then picked out Wolyniec, who had only to tap the ball in with his right foot.
Arnaud made his own chance to score in the 36th minute when he dribbled about 25 yards through the midfield before shooting from the top of the area. Meola made a great save, diving to left and stopping the shot from going into the upper right of the goal.
New York attacked effectively from the start of the second half and it paid off quickly. From the left corner, Djorkaeff crossed to the far post where Dunivant headed it in between two defenders in the 53rd minute.
Wolff entered the game for the Wizards after Dunivant's goal and almost paid dividends immediately. His back heel to Sealy in the 57th minute sprung Sealy loose in the left side of the penalty area. But Meola came off his line quickly to cut off Sealy's angle and deflect his shot.
Wolff paid that dividend in the 71st minute when he deflected Burciaga's cross from near the end line into the net.
Four minutes later, Johnson broke free on the right wing, but his cross eluded both Wolff and Sealy in the area.
Both teams pressed forward in the remaining minutes, apparently not content with a draw. But as the game wound down, neither team could generate the quality scoring chances that highlighted the opening 75 minutes.
Robert Whitman is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
