The New York Red Bulls nearly snatched a win from Sporting Kansas City, only for Gianluca Busio to score his third goal in three games in the 88th minute to give the teams a point each at Children's Mercy Park on Sunday evening.
Busio — a second-half substitute — managed to stick home a chance at the far post following a recycled corner kick to quash the Red Bulls' hopes of a comeback win in a wild affair.
Danny Royer and Brian White provided the second second-half goals for the Red Bulls, with White scoring the potential game-winner just minutes after he came on in a head-turning substitution for two-time Golden Boot winner Bradley Wright-Phillips. After Busio's equalizer, though, the Red Bulls had to endure a final flurry that included a Daniel Salloi chance that hit the woodwork and a Kaku red card.
The Red Bulls also had to endure plenty of early pressure, with Luis Robles making a vital stop just seconds into the game and staying busy throughout the first half. Russell bagged the opening goal of the encounter in the 24th minute from a quickly-worked throw-in that saw Graham Zusi find Krisztian Nemeth with the restart, allowing the Hungarian to lay it into Russell's path for the finish from a tight angle.
The Red Bulls equalized early in the first half, when Yohan Croizet barely kept Danny Royer onside just inside the Sporting KC half, which in turn allowed Cristian Casseres Jr. to play Royer in behind. The Austrian winger made no mistake in his one-on-one, rounding Melia and rolling the ball home.
Just three minutes after Wright-Phillips left the field — a decision Red Bulls head coach Chris Armas attributed on the broadcast to the amount of work Wright-Phillips had done — Kaku found himself with plenty of space on the left side to swing in a deep cross that found a streaking White for a diving header.
When it looked like RBNY might come away with the three points, Zusi was able to collect a punch from Robles and fire the ball back into the box, which Busio was able to turn home for the equalizer.
Goals
- 24' – SKC – Johnny Russell
- 52' – RBNY – Daniel Royer
- 75' – RBNY – Brian White
- 88' – SKC – Gianluca Busio
Next Up
- Saturday, April 20 at New England (7:30 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in the US and on DAZN in Canada)
