The winless skids continued for the Vancouver Whitecaps and the New York Red Bulls as the two sides battled to a 1-1 tie at Empire Field on Saturday.
Luke Rodgers scored for the Red Bulls to cancel out a penalty-kick goal by Eric Hassli, leaving the Whitecaps winless since their opening game — an 11-match streak — and the Red Bulls, who traveled without Designated Players Rafa Márquez and Thierry Henry, without a victory in five outings.
Vancouver opened the scoring in the 24th minute after a lovely give-and-go between Davide Chiumiento and Camilo ended with the Brazilian being taken down in the box by New York right back Carlos Mendes.
Hassli buried the enduing spot kick to give the ‘Caps a 1-0 lead.
Ten minutes later, the Red Bulls found an equalizer as Roy Miller lofted a pass across the field to Solli, who then fed Rodgers for a one-timer past Nolly to take the teams into the break level at 1-1.
The first few minutes of the match were back and forth with Hassli coming close two minutes in, followed by a shot just wide by Luke Rodgers on six minutes and a rising shot not far off target from Jan Gunnar Solli three minutes later.
The home side thought they had a goal in the 16th minute when Alain Rochat fed Camilo for a tap-in in front of goal, only to see it called back for offside.
Neither team looked ready to settle for a draw in the second half. Vancouver had a good chance in the 59th minute as a Chiumiento cross was met by a sliding Hassli, but Greg Sutton was in position to make a kick save.
New York then had their own chance a minute later as Miller struck a shot from the top of the box inches wide of the far post.
Vancouver had another look in the 74th when Chiumiento sprung Terry Dunfield on a breakaway, but the Canadian international couldn’t get his footing as he hit a shot harmlessly wide of goal.
New York responded six minutes later when Matt Kassell tested Jay Nolly with a high shot, but the ‘Caps goalkeeper did well to tip it out to safety.
The visitors had one final look with three minutes remaining on a free kick from just outside the box that De Rosario hit no more than a foot high.
Scoring Summary:
VAN -- Eric Hassli 4 (penalty kick) 24
NY -- Luke Rodgers 5 (Jan Gunnar Solli 4, Roy Miller 2) 34
New York Red Bulls -- Greg Sutton, Jan Gunnar Solli, Tim Ream, Carlos Mendes (Matt Kassel 70), Roy Miller, Stephen Keel, Teemu Tainio, Dwayne De Rosario (Corey Hertzog 89), Juan Agudelo, Joel Lindpere, Luke Rodgers (Austin Da Luz 70).
Substitutes Not Used: Tyler Lassiter, John Rooney, Teddy Schneider, Bouna Coundoul.
Vancouver Whitecaps -- Jay Nolly, Wes Knight, Jay DeMerit, Greg Janicki, Alain Rochat, Shea Salinas (Russell Teibert 67), Terry Dunfield, Gershon Koffie, Davide Chiumiento (Nizar Khalfan 77), Camilo (Omar Salgado 83), Eric Hassli.
Substitutes Not Used: Mouloud Akloul, Jeb Brovsky, Blake Wagner, Joe Cannon.
Misconduct Summary:
NY -- Tim Ream (caution; Reckless Foul) 75
Referee: Mark Geiger
Referee's Assistants: Hector Vergara; Steven Taylor
4th Official: Landis Wiley
Attendance: 21,000
Time of Game: 1:52
Weather: Partly Cloudy-and-55-degrees
