In a game between two teams that combined for seven draws already, 1-1 was really the only possible final score Saturday night at Giants Stadium. The New York Red Bulls extended their winless streak to six games with their fifth tie and the Chicago Fire extended their unbeaten stretch to five games.
The Red Bulls went up in the 27th minute, when recently acquired Jean Philippe Peguero leapt over C.J. Brown and headed in Seth Stammler's cross. The play started with Youri Djorkaeff playing the ball to Mark Lisi and he found Stammler.
Second-half substitute Nate Jaqua helped the Fire get level in the 68th minute when he was taken down by Danny O'Rourke at the penalty spot. Diego Gutierrez stepped to the spot and beat Jon Conway, who guessed wrong, to the keeper's left. It was Gutierrez's first goal of the year.
Tony Meola was a last-minute scratch after suffering a strained left calf in pregame warmups. He was replaced by backup Conway, who last played in an MLS game on Oct. 9, 2004, for the San Jose Earthquakes and made three saves in a scoreless draw against the Kansas City Wizards. The former Rutgers standout was 2-2-1 that year for the Quakes, with a career-low 0.60 goals against average.
Fire coach Dave Sarachan opted to leave Chris Armas in Chicago, deciding not to test the midfielder's left knee on the hard Giants Stadium turf. Armas torn his anterior cruciate ligament in the Fire's playoff opener Oct. 21. He made his first appearance in a 2-1 win against New England on April 30 and played the entire 90 minutes in a 1-1 draw at Kansas City last weekend.
Chad Barrett tested Conway early, forcing the 'keeper to come off his line to make a save in the fourth minute. In the 21st minute Conway again got the better of Barrett, making a save of his shot from 16 yards and two minutes later Thiago found Barrett, who had acres of space down the right side. But again Conway stopped Barrett, making a kick save.
In the 40th minute Leonard Griffin was given a yellow card for taking down Amado Guevara, but the Honduran's free kick from 26 yards out sailed over the crossbar.
Without starting center back Taylor Graham, who had successful sports hernia surgery Thursday, the Red Bulls went with a 3-5-2 formation. Lisi made his first start of the year, as did Steve Jolley, who played left back, replacing Marvell Wynne. Jolley made his 105th career appearance (fourth all-time) with the New York organization and his first home start at Giants Stadium since Oct. 18, 2003.
The Fire made two changes from last weekend's lineup with Dasan Robinson and Griffin starting in place of Armas and Jim Curtin (athletic pubalgia surgery).
Conway continued to come up big in the second half, making a near post save of a shot by Ivan Guerrero in the 53rd minute.
Two minutes later Mo Johnston made his first substitution, bringing on Wynne for Guevara and switching to a 4-4-2 formation. Guevara didn't appear to be pleased with the move, walking straight from the field into the Red Bulls locker room. He was later spotted in the stands, having changed his clothes, signing autographs.
In the 61st minute Conway dived to his left to stop Thiago's shot from just inside the 18-yard box. Two minutes later Chicago made its first change, bringing on Jaqua for Griffin.
Both teams hit the woodwork in the final 10 minutes, with Djorkaeff putting the ball off the far post from 20 yards out in the 82nd minute. A minute later Jaqua's blast from the top of the 18-yard box rang off the crossbar.
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
