E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Ricardo Clark's equalizing goal Saturday perhaps perfectly sums up the way things are going for the New York Red Bulls right now. The former MetroStars first-round draft pick fired a shot from 35 yards out that deflected off Mark Lisi and beat goalkeeper Tony Meola inside the near post.
Just like that another blown lead, another tie.
"When things are going great, the deflection goes out of bounds," Meola said. "When things aren't going great it finds the back of the net. That seems to be the way things are going right now."
The Red Bulls continue to set the standard for draws in MLS with their league-record seventh in their 10 games after playing to a 1-1 tie with Houston Dynamo at Giants Stadium.
"We've had four away games and we haven't lost any, so that's a positive," Red Bulls coach Mo Johnston said. "We're not giving up too many chances or too many goals of late. I would certainly prefer a couple of victories, but it's going to come."
If things are going right, Jeff Parke doesn't head the ball off the post in the 39th minute. If things are going right, perhaps Johnston doesn't need to bring on an injured Amado Guevara for an injured Mark Lisi, or bring in a banged up Peter Canero or take out an injured Carlos Mendes.
"I believe the harder you work, the more things go your way," Parke said. "We just have to work a bit harder, it's just a matter of time the ball starts falling our way."
And had it not been for some brilliance by Meola, who reached out to make a kick save to rob Canadian international Dwayne De Rosario, Houston might have walked out of Giants Stadium with three points.
De Rosario put Moreno's service over the net in the 50th minute and three minutes later Wade Barrett put his shot from 25 yards out wide. In the 63rd De Rosario had another chance, but he put his close range shot wide of the near post.
"We have to keep pressing on," said Mendes, who left the game in the 77th minute with a right hamstring strain. "Obviously there are definitely things we can do better for sure like closing out games and keeping possession of the ball better so we don't have to defend for so long. But we have to stay positive, look at the good things and keep working on things we need to get better at. I think that we have enough to pull through."
Jean Philippe Peguero gave the Red Bulls the lead in the second minute but Clark leveled for Houston. It was the sixth time the Red Bulls squandered a lead. The only difference is that Houston didn't score late, as was the case in a draw at New England and in a 2-1 win over Los Angeles last week.
Peguero's second-minute goal was tied for the fastest goal in team history. Clint Mathis also scored in the second minute for the then-MetroStars on Sept. 5, 2002. Pat Onstad came off his line and got a piece of Youri Djorkaeff's service from the right side. But Peguero plowed into Onstad, the ball bounced loose and the Haitian tapped in his fifth goal of the year.
In the 900 minutes they've played this year, the Red Bulls have only trailed for 52 minutes.
"I'm tired of hearing about guys that are coming in," Meola said. "This is our team, we have to fight with these guys. By the time anything gets done we could bury ourselves. This is it, this is who we are going to play with.
"I just hope that the next 10 games the ball starts bouncing our way," he added.
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
