No teams play to more draws than the New York Red Bulls and the Chicago Fire so it wasn't much of a surprise that when they squared off at Red Bull Arena it ended with them splitting the points. The Red Bulls went on top early through Thierry Henry, but the Fire answered with two goals of their own. In the end, it took a classy finish from Joel Lindpere to get the home side a point with a 2-2 draw.
New York Red Bulls Vs. Chicago Fire: Kings Of Draws Finish 2-2
Henry's tally came in the ninth minute on the end of a good build up by New York. They moved the ball quickly, eventually getting the ball to Dax McCarty, who used two touches to get it to Dane Richards at the edge of the box. Richards also used two touches with the Jamaican laying the ball off for Henry who beautifully curled the ball inside the post from 25 yards out for his 12th goal of the season.
Just seven minutes later, Chicago had themselves an equalizer. Patrick Nyarko got in behind the New York defense and was able to run with the ball into the box. With the New York defense scrambling back, they got into the box, but then just watched Nyarko. That allowed Nyarko to survey the field and feed Dominic Oduro, who was free in the middle. Oduro easily finished as the visitors were level.
Not long after, Chicago went in front thanks to a Sebastian Grazzini finish. Marco Pappa beautifully chipped a ball into the path of Oduro to open the play up. Oduro got a shot off, which was saved, but the rebound fell to Grazzini, who finished into the open net to put Chicago in front.
Chicago’s lead held all the way until the 63rd minute. With Grazzini on the turf injured, New York had a man advantage. Lindpere opened the play up by finding Richards on the right and the Jamaican crossed right back in for Lindpere. The cross wasn’t very good, hit hard at Lindpere’s thigh, but he did a tremendous job to open up and sidefoot the ball home to put the match back on level terms.
The draw now means that New York has played to a deadlock 13 times this season, while Chicago has bested them with 14 draws on the year. It’s hardly something to be proud of, especially for New York, who has won just one match since June 10 and are in danger of falling outside of the Eastern Conference’s top three.
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