HARRISON, N.J. (April 26, 2015) – The New York Red Bulls played to a 1-1 draw with the LA Galaxy on Sunday evening at Red Bull Arena to improve to 3-0-3 and remain undefeated. New York overcame an early LA goal with a marker from Felipe in the second half to stretch the unbeaten run to start the season to six games.
“I thought that we controlled the game from the opening whistle and for 90 minutes we were on top of the match,” said Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch. “Getting the early goal for them really changed the match a little bit and meant that we were pushing and they were sitting back but overall I thought that the little tactical details for what we needed to do to be on top of the match were good. The guys pushed and pushed to get the equalizer and we were a little bit unlucky not to find the lead. So overall I would give it a positive performance.”
The Galaxy got on the board in the sixth minute, when Bradford Jamieson IV received the ball and cut into the box, taking a sharp touch to wrong-foot the defender and free himself down the left side before putting a low, hard shot by Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles.
Bradley Wright-Phillips almost had the answer minutes later when a deft cross from Sacha Kljestan found him at the six yard box. The Englishman’s first-time shot went straight into the chest of a well-placed Jaime Penedo.
The early goal seemed to wake up the home side, with the Red Bulls generating the better of the chances for the first 45 and coming away with more than 60 percent of the possession and completing almost twice as many passes as LA (284-187). The Red Bulls would finish the game with similar numbers, taking a shade over 60 percent of the possession for the game.
The Red Bulls evened the game in the 59th minute, when a cutting run with possession from Lloyd Sam opened up the LA defense. Sam laid the ball off for Wright-Phillips, whose centering pass caromed off a Galaxy defender and into the path of Felipe, who was able to head the ball over the line.
A chance for a second came in the 74th minute, when a clever pass from Kljestan found Felipe at the edge of the box. The Brazilian was able to touch on for Wright-Phillips, who turned and blasted a shot towards the upper right corner, requiring a leaping save from Penedo.
With the draw the Red Bulls stretch their unbeaten run to six games to start the season. The six-game stretch is the longest unbeaten run to start a season in franchise history.
