The New York Red Bulls and Portland Timbers (USL-1) battled to a 0-0 draw Friday night in a friendly at Merlo Field on the campus of the University of Portland. Earlier in the day, the city of Portland was named as the 18th Major League Soccer franchise, to begin play in 2011.
Portland had the early chances, the first just three minutes into the match as Antou Jallow ran onto a long ball, but his shot was easily saved by Jon Conway. The Timbres relied on long crosses to generate offense, which resulted in 10 offside calls, as New York controlled the center of the field, with Nick Zimmerman and Luke Sassano doing the bulk of the work.
New York began to create scoring opportunities after withstanding Portland's early energy, as the speed of Dominic Oduro and Matthew Mbuta caused the Timbers defense problems and created space for John Wolyniec.
The Red Bulls continued to carry possession and push the attack in the second half, and, despite several chances in close, could not beat Timbers goalkeeper Steve Cronin, resulting in the 0-0 draw.
Wolyniec nearly gave the visitors the win in second half stoppage time, but Cronin narrowly beat him to a through ball to end the chance and the match.
The Red Bulls return to action on Saturday, March 28, when New York plays its 2009 MLS home opener, hosting rival New England Revolution at 7:30 PM at Giants Stadium (TV: Fox Soccer Channel Radio: WADO 1280 AM). For tickets call 1-877-RBSOCCER or log onto the New York Red Bulls Ticket Center.
NEW YORK RED BULLS vs. PORTLAND TIMBERS
Scoring Summary:
none
Disciplinary Summary:
PORT: Tony McManus (caution) 16
NYRB: Dominic Oduro (caution) 36
NYRB: Nick Zimmerman (caution) 53
NYRB: Danleigh Borman (caution) 60
NYRB: Khano Smith (caution) 61
PORT: Alex Nimo (caution) 80
PORTLAND TIMBERS - Steve Cronin, Cameron Knowles, Stephen Keel, Scot Thompson, Takuro Nishimura (Cameron Dunn 72), Johan Claesson (Alex Nimo 65), Tony McManus, Keith Savage, Ryan Pore, Antou Jallow ( Jason McLaughlin 46), Takayuki Suzuki (George Josten 46).
NEW YORK RED BULLS - Jon Conway (Alec Dufty 63), Danleigh Borman, Andrew Boyens, Carlos Johnson, Jeremy Hall (Seth Stammler 46), Luke Sassano, Khano Smith, Nick Zimmerman, Matthew Mbuta, John Wolyniec, Dominic Oduro.
