In front of a sellout crowd at the opening of Real Salt Lake's new Rio Tinto Stadium, the New York Red Bulls endured an onslaught to gain a 1-1 draw on MLS Primetime Thursday.
Dave van den Bergh scored the first goal in the new stadium's history when he put the Red Bulls ahead in the 31st minute, but Jamison Olave score the equalizer for RSL 11 minutes later. The Red Bulls spent the final seven minutes a man down after Juan Pietravallo was sent off.
In a highly emotional match it took the Red Bulls a few minutes to get into the match, while the home side pressed heavily during the opening minutes. During the opening period some frustration spilled out from New York midfielder Seth Stammler. After getting dispossessed by Yura Movsisyan in his own defensive third, Stammler yanked the Salt Lake striker to the ground by the back of his shirt, and referee Terry Vaughn was quick to show Stammler a yellow card in the sixth minute.
The first scoring opportunity for the Red Bulls came in the 19th minute. The initial clearance of their first corner kick found the feet of Pietravallo just outside the Salt Lake area. Pietravallo took a touch and then fired a shot short of the near post.
Another yellow card was issued in the 24th minute, shown to Chris Leitch after he kicked the ball at Javier Morales while the RSL midfielder was lying on the ground.
New York started mounting a more organized attack toward the middle of the opening half, and began to win a number of corners. In the 30th minute a header from Mike Magee forced RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando to make a fantastic sprawling save to tip the ball wide of the post.
The ensuing corner found the head of Stammler who directed a powerful shot on frame. Kyle Beckerman headed the ball off the line, but only as far as van den Bergh at the top of the area. The Dutchman was able to rifle the rebound back inside the right-hand post for the first goal scored in Rio Tinto Stadium history in the 31st minute.
Movsisyan nearly brought RSL level, after he beat the offside line and raced in alone on goal. He pulled goalkeeper Jon Conway off his line and was able to cut to his right to get a good look at goal, but Jeff Parke was able to cut in behind and clear his shot away from the goal area.
The visitors lead only lasted 10 minutes. Morales put in a corner from the right and after bouncing in the box, Olave was able to get a touch to it and loop it over Conway to bring the score level at 1-1.
Just as the opening half came to a close Juan Pablo Angel fed a perfect ball through to Stammler as he crashed the RSL penalty area. Covered by two defenders, Stammler misplayed the ball over the endline while going to ground, but an appeal for a penalty fell on deaf ears.
The second half opened much like the first, with the Red Bulls forced to defend. In the 56th minute Conway dove to keep the ball going out for a Salt Lake corner at his near post. Although it appeared that he stopped the ball on top of the end line, the referee called a corner kick for RSL.
Van den Bergh created a promising chance for New York at the hour mark. The Red Bulls midfielder stripped the ball from the feet of Salt Lake's Clint Mathis and then played easy pass to Magee at the edge of the box. Magee's shot was low and just wide of the far post.
Magee left the match just a few minutes later with an injury; he was replaced by Sinisa Ubiparipovic in the 65th minute.
Conway then went airborne in the 71st minute to make sure a powerful Beckerman shot from distance didn't tuck under the bar.
Things turned bad for New York in the 83rd minute when Pietravallo was sent off for getting Clint Mathis in the head. Following the call Kevin Goldthwaite was cautioned with a yellow for arguing with the official.
During the final 10 minutes the Red Bulls absorbed an all-out attack from RSL as they pushed for the win. Although under extreme pressure, New York was able to keep Salt Lake from creating any dangerous chances and the match ended in the draw.
The Red Bulls return home next Saturday, where they will take on the Columbus Crew, while RSL will play their second game in their new home the same night, when they play host to FC Dallas.
Scott McAllister is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
