HARRISON, N.J. — Thierry Henry scored his league-leading 11th goal with five minutes remaining to help the New York Red Bulls salvage a 2-2 tie at home to FC Dallas on Saturday night.
Just minutes after New York went down a man on Dane Richards' second yellow card, Henry controlled a Dax McCarty pass 20 yards from goal, froze the FC Dallas defense with a fake and left-footed a shot near post past a hopelessly sprawled Kevin Hartman to level the game at 2-2.
The Frenchman's late strike cancelled out a second-half brace by FC Dallas forward Marvin Chávez, whose two tallies in the 51st and 78th minute, overturned a 1-0 RBNY lead secured by Juan Agudelo minutes before halftime.
For much of the match’s opening minutes, the action on the field was nondescript, characterized by half chances with the Red Bulls, true to their form, holding the majority of the first-half possession.
The breakthrough for New York came in the 39th minute after Joel Lindpere took the ball deep from the Red Bulls' own end and carried it forward. The ball eventually fell to Dane Richards on the right wing who, finding space on the edge of the 18-yard box, sent in a low pass to the center of the area. Agudelo somehow got his right foot around FC Dallas captain Daniel Hernandez and chipped the Richards cross up and over Hartman for his fifth goal of the year.
New York came close to doubling the lead just before the halftime whistle but Hartman did well to dive to his right, saving an Agudelo shot from 18 yards out.
FC Dallas emerged from the locker room ready to make amends for a first half in which they were outplayed and failed to register a single shot on goal.
Chávez’s first goal came after some patient buildup and deft touches by the FC Dallas attack. In the 50th minute, after some nifty interchange between Ricardo Villar and halftime substitute Bruno Guarda, Villar sent a thru ball to Chávez inside the penalty area. The Honduran international, who had slipped behind central defender Rafa Márquez, took the pass and fired a shot that deflected slightly off Tim Ream and beat goalkeeper Frank Rost for a 1-1 equalizer.
Two minutes later, Brek Shea’s cross from the left flank found Chávez open again in front of goal but Rost charged out to block the shot. The action turned end-to-end and a 54th minute shot by Richards from 20 yards out beat Hartman but clanged off the crossbar.
FC Dallas grabbed the lead in the 78th minute when FC Dallas left back Jair Benítez delivered a ball into the area. FCD central defender George John deflected it to the feet of Chávez, who right-footed a perfectly placed shot by Rost for his second goal of the game.
FC Dallas, who won a midweek match in Toronto and head to El Salvador to open CONCACAF Champions League preliminary round play on July 26, return to Western Conference action on July 31 when they travel to take on Chivas USA. The Red Bulls, who have won just once in the past eight games, will hope to turn things around on July 30 at Rio Tinto Stadium against Real Salt Lake.
Scoring Summary:
NY -- Juan Agudelo 5 (Dane Richards 5) 39
DAL -- Marvin Chavez 2 (Ricardo Villar 1, Bruno Guarda 1) 51
DAL -- Marvin Chavez 3 (George John 1, Jair Benitez 2) 78
NY -- Thierry Henry 11 (Dax McCarty 1) 85
Misconduct Summary:
NY -- Dane Richards (caution; Reckless Foul) 50
NY -- Tim Ream (caution; Tactical Foul) 59
DAL -- Bruno Guarda (caution; Reckless Foul) 79
NY -- Dane Richards (ejection; Second Caution) 80
DAL -- Andrew Jacobson (caution; Reckless Tackle) 83
Lineups:
FC Dallas -- Kevin Hartman, George John, Zach Loyd, Ugo Ihemelu, Jair Benitez, Eric Alexander (Andrew Wiedeman 60), Ricardo Villar (Andrew Jacobson 80), Eric Avila (Bruno Guarda 46), Daniel Hernandez, Brek Shea, Marvin Chavez.
Substitutes Not Used: Ruben Luna, Victor Ulloa, Bobby Warshaw, Chris Seitz.
New York Red Bulls -- Frank Rost, Jan Gunnar Solli, Rafael Marquez, Tim Ream, Roy Miller, Dane Richards, Dax McCarty, Mehdi Ballouchy (Chris Albright 82), Joel Lindpere, Juan Agudelo, Thierry Henry.
Substitutes Not Used: Corey Hertzog, Matt Kassel, Stephen Keel, Carlos Mendes, John Rooney, Bouna Coundoul.
Referee: Jorge Gonzalez
Referee's Assistants: Greg Barkey, Mark Declouet
4th Official: John McCloskey
Attendance: 17,276
Time of Game: 1:52
Weather: Partly cloudy and 100 degrees
