HOUSTON, WE HAVE A TIE Red Bulls play Dynamo to 1-1 draw
Chris Henderson scored his third goal of the year, and second in three games, for the Red Bulls in a 1-1 tie in Houston. Photo by Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
They might have missed a golden opportunity to move into second place in the Eastern Conference, but the Red Bulls head into the All-Star Break riding a four-match unbeaten streak after a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Houston Saturday night.
The Red Bulls remain two points behind second place New England in the Eastern Conference standings after the Revs rallied for a 1-1 draw in Kansas City. They also played to their MLS-leading ninth tie of the year.
A draw and a blown lead was the story of the first half of the season but it was a result Saturday that isn't seen with nearly as much negativity, even after three consecutive clean sheets.
"Obviously this is a tough place to play," Red Bulls interim coach Richie Williams said, after his final MLS game as head coach. Bruce Arena takes over Aug. 7. "Houston is a good team. To come in and get a point is a good result."
Against the run of play, Chris Henderson put the Red Bulls in front with his third goal of the year, and second in three games, in the 67th minute. Amado Guevara played a sublime ball to Henderson on the right side of the 18-yard box and the veteran midfielder slotted the ball past Pat Onstad.
"It was a great ball through by Amado [Guevara]," Henderson told MLSnet.com. "I wanted to stay onside. It's a little disappointing that we weren't a little tighter in the next minute. I actually should've had two tonight. I had a great chance in the first half."
But the Red Bulls lead lasted all of three minutes as Houston equalized on a Dwayne DeRosario penalty kick. Former MetroStars midfielder Ricardo Clark burst up the middle and ran into the box. Beaten in the foot race, Danny O'Rourke tripped up Clark and referee Tim Weyland pointed towards the spot.
DeRosario scored his sixth goal of the year, beating Jon Conway to his left to level the score. The PK snapped the Red Bulls' streak of 397 minutes without conceding a goal.
Two minutes later, both teams were reduced to 10 men after a skirmish between O'Rourke and DeRosario. O'Rourke picked up his second yellow card while DeRosario was issued a straight red card for shoving O'Rourke to the ground.
When the Red Bulls play their next MLS game -- Aug. 16 against D.C. United -- they'll do so without O'Rourke and Seth Stammler, who will serve a one-game suspension for an accumulation of caution points.
But next for the Red Bulls is a fourth round U.S. Open Cup match against the Wilmington Hammerheads in Wilmington, N.C. Wednesday.
"I think that's something that we can go far in so we have to focus there," Henderson said of the Open Cup. "I think this time in the year, it's probably good to get a break, but then we've got D.C. [United] so that will be a big challenge for us."
