Despite falling behind by two goals after just 18 minutes, D.C. United put on a roaring second-half performance before settling for a 2-2 draw with the New York Red Bulls in the season opener for both teams Sunday at RFK Stadium.
A Youri Djorkaeff free kick and Edson Buddle's first goal with his new club gave the visitors the early lead, but the introduction of Alecko Eskandarian after the halftime break had a profound effect on the proceedings, as he scored his first goal in more than a year before Facundo Erpen hit for the equalizer.
Fueled by the players' opening day nerves and plenty of passion from both sides' vociferous fans, the match heated up quickly in the April sunlight. A crisp United passing sequence just two minutes in allowed Clyde Simms to set up winger Josh Gros for a glorious chance in the Red Bulls' penalty area, but goalkeeper Tony Meola rescued his defense with a composed one-on-one save.
Gros knew he'd missed a golden opportunity, and showed his frustration with a crunching tackle on Jeff Parke as the two chased down the rebound, earning him an early caution from referee Brian Hall.
The two sides continued to press and probe one another as the game developed, with D.C.'s attack looking lively as midfielders Simms and Olsen working to dictate play in the center of the park. But the game took its first turn at the other end of the pitch, where a United foul allowed the wily veteran Djorkaeff to set up a free kick from almost 30 yards out.
The former French international and World Cup winner repeatedly exhibited his mastery in similar situations last year, and made no mistake with his first opportunity of 2006. He stepped forward and whipped a right-footed curling, dipping shot over the D.C. wall. It looked nearly impossible to stop and was, sailing into the absolute upper corner, just beyond Troy Perkins' fingertips.
Perkins had barely dusted himself off after his unsuccessful leap for Djorkaeff's spectacular set piece when he found himself in trouble again, this time fumbling a Seth Stammler's right-wing cross in the six-yard box.
It looked like a straightforward claim for the third-year netminder, but he struggled to grab it with defender Brandon Prideaux also rising to meet the service, and Perkins dropped the ball right on the doorstep. An elated Buddle had the simplest of tasks to open his New York account, knocking the ball into an empty net to make it 2-0 to the visitors.
With the exception of 800 ecstatic New Yorkers in the northwest corner, the RFK crowd of 23,028 dropped into a stunned silence at the turn of events -- but the look on his face suggested that no one was more gutted than Perkins, making his 19th career start due to Nick Rimando's foot injury.
For all their possession, United were now down 2-0 and struggling to regroup. But Freddy Adu's trickery on the left wing provided one bright spot, and he could have cut his club's deficit in half three minutes from halftime after his canny combination with Lucio Filomeno. The Argentinian's through ball released the 16-year-old in the New York box, but Meola came up big again to deny Adu and keep his clean sheet alive.
United needed an immediate boost to climb out of their 2-0 hole, and head coach Peter Nowak looked to Eskandarian to provide it, bringing the 2004 MLS Cup MVP on in place of Simms for the second half.
Plagued by recurring complications from a concussion, Eskandarian had not appeared for United in nearly a year, and he was warmly welcomed by the RFK faithful as he scampered around the Red Bulls' half seeking to revive his side's fortunes.
The diminutive striker's movement and pace opened up the New York defense to create several early half-chances, but his efforts paid off in the 55th minute as he latched onto a pinpoint cross from Gros deep in the visitors' box, blasting a left-footed volley into the roof of Meola's net to give his team the opening goal they needed.
The goal got United's tails up and energized the home crowd, who urged on the Black-and-Red as they grabbed a chokehold in possession and poured forward in waves. Filomeno came close with a long-range shot from 20 yards out, but surprisingly it was his Erpen, his fellow Argentinean, who finally drew his team level.
The young center back snuck forward as Ben Olsen collected a lofted pass just inside the New York penalty area, drawing in two defenders before laying off an inviting ball that Erpen drove low and hard past Meola to make it 2-2.
Momentum had now fully swung to the home side, and their fans roared in anticipation of the game winner. But another defensive hiccup almost handed the match to the Red Bulls on another set piece.
Amado Guevara was having an unusually quiet game in the heart of the Bulls midfield, but he did well to draw a foul on the left D.C. endline in the 79th minute, setting up Djorkaeff for another bending free kick, this time intended as a service to the far post. Perkins was almost left red-faced again as he flapped at the cross, leaving Jeff Parke with a clear view of goal -- only for the defender to sidefoot wide.
Nowak brought Santino Quaranta on for a tiring Filomeno in the 75th minute, and in the 83rd minute the rangy striker made his presence known with a thunderous free kick from 40 yards out. Adu stepped over the ball for Quaranta to unleash a blistering drive headed for the far side netting, but Meola got down to punch the knuckling shot away to safety.
Another substitute almost turned the game in the 85th minute, as Peter Canero, in for Stammler on the right, ran onto a Buddle layoff and slapped an outswinging drive just high and wide of Perkins' net.
But neither side was able to break the deadlock and when referee Hall blew his whistle for full time, neither side could complain about the 2-2 draw.
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
