After a tight, scoreless opening hour, the New York Red Bulls and LA Galaxy traded two-goal flurries to split the points in a contentious 2-2 draw at StubHub Center on Sunday night.
Following goals from substitute Gonzalo Veron and Sean Davis, it appeared the Red Bulls were poised to win just their second road game of the season, but the Galaxy fought back and narrowed the margin via Mike Magee in the 80th minute before Ashley Cole lashed home a close-range effort one minute from time.
Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch was ejected in the late going after protesting two PK no-calls in the 85th and 90th minutes. New York were forced to use all three of their substitutions after 47 minutes following injuries to Damian Perrinelle, Connor Lade and Bradley Wright-Phillips.
Box Score
- 68' -- NY -- Gonzalo Veron (Sacha Kljestan, Felipe)
- 74' -- NY -- Sean Davis (Felipe, Mike Grella)
- 80' -- LA -- Mike Magee (Steven Gerrard, Giovani dos Santos)
- 89' -- Ashley Cole
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Three things
1. PULLING THE STRINGS:Sacha Kljestan continued his torrid form on Sunday night, assisting on Veron's opener and asking questions of the Galaxy backline all night with his pinpoint through balls and clever movement. Kljestan leads MLS in assists with 13 and is one away from tying the mark for the most in Red Bulls history, now shared by Tanque Hurtado (1998), Thierry Henry (2014) and Kljestan (2015) himself.
2. A FIRST FOR ASHLEY: Arsenal, Chelsea and England stalwart Ashley Cole scored his first MLS goal for the Galaxy, chesting down a clearance attempt and smashing the ball between Luis Robles' legs in the 89th minute to give his team a point.
3. MARSCH SENT OFF: The Red Bulls weren't happy with a Jeff Larentowicz tackle in the first half that saw Perrinelle forced off because of injury, and they were even more upset about a pair of PK no-calls from referee Hilario Grajeda in the final five minutes of regulation. Alex Muyl and Veron both appealed for spot kicks following collisions with LA goalkeeper Brian Rowe, but Grajeda waved play on both times. Marsch was eventually ejected for his protestations, but made his feelings clear before leaving the field.
LA Galaxy Postgame Notes
LA Galaxy 2, New York Red Bulls 2
Sunday, August 7, 2016
2016 MLS Regular Season
StubHub Center – Carson, California
Scoring Summary:
NYRB – Gonzalo Verón (Assisted by Sacha Kljestan, Felipe) 68’
NYRB – Sean Davis (Assisted by Felipe, Mike Grella) 74’
LA – Mike Magee (Assisted by Steven Gerrard, Giovani dos Santos) 80’
LA – Ashley Cole 89’
Misconduct Summary:
LA – Jeff Larentowicz (caution) 27’
NYRB – Alex Muyl (caution) 61’
NYRB – Kemar Lawrence (caution) 90’+2
LA – Baggio Husidic (caution) 90’+3
Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Brian Rowe; A.J. DeLaGarza, Daniel Steres, Jelle Van Damme, Ashley Cole; Jeff Larentowicz (Baggio Husidic 64’), Nigel de Jong (Mike Magee 76’); Giovani dos Santos, Steven Gerrard, Sebastian Lletget (Emmanuel Boateng 76’); Robbie Keane ©
Substitutions not used: Dan Kennedy, Leonardo, Dave Romney, Alan Gordon
Head Coach: Bruce Arena
SHOTS: 11; SHOTS ON GOAL: 5; CORNERS: 3; OFFSIDES: 3; SAVES: 5
New York Red Bulls: Luis Robles; Ronald Zubar, Kemar Lawrence, Connor Lade (Sal Zizzo 32’), Damien Perrinelle (Aurélien Collin 30’), Sean Davis, Alex Muyl, Felipe, Mike Grella, Sacha Kljestan ©; Bradley Wright-Phillips (Gonzalo Verón 47’)
Substitutions not used: Shaun Wright-Phillips, Tyler Adams, Derrick Etienne, Kyle Reynish
Head Coach: Jesse Marsch
SHOTS: 16; SHOTS ON GOAL: 8; CORNERS: 5; OFFSIDES: 4; SAVES: 3
Referee: Hilario Grajeda
Referee’s Assistants: Jonathan Johnson and Eduardo Mariscal
4th Official: Kevin Stott
Attendance: 25,671
