The New York Red Bulls escaped from a rainy Giants Stadium with a fortunate 1-1 draw against the Seattle Sounders on Saturday night. It was another listless performance from the Red Bulls, who have the look of a team already content to play out the rest of the season. The visiting Sounders, playing their second game in four days, were clearly the better side, had more (and better) chances and were twice denied by the woodwork.

The Red Bulls goal came off a lucky bounce that Juan Pablo Angel happily buried in the back of the Sounders net. The Colombian had a few other chances that went wanting, otherwise Kasey Keller’s goal was hardly threatened. The visitors showed some of the rust that can be expected from a team coming off a cross-country trip and less than 96 hours removed from a taxing match with DC United. The home side had no such excuses, but appeared less energetic than their opponents.

The Sounders hit the crossbar in the first half, the post in the second and several times were done in by point-blank saves by Danny Cepero, the best Red Bull on the night. Despite this, and despite the fact the home side did not have any shots on goal in the second half, the team’s embattled head coach Juan Carlos Osorio appeared to believe his team was the better one on the night. “I thought we had the better chances,” he said in the postgame press conference.

Amazingly, the Red Bulls probably would have won the game had it not been for a defensive mistake by Jeremy Hall. The rookie inexplicably gave the ball away to Sounders striker Fredy Montero, who was able to walk in alone on Cepero and bury the ball in the roof of the net. “I feel like a baseball pitcher who just gave up a walk-off,” said Hall afterwards. “It cost us points and I feel terrible.”

Angel said he was impressed with Hall’s reaction in the second half. “He knows he made a mistake, he’s only going to get better from this,” Angel said of Hall. “The way he reacted and the way he played in the second half was just phenomenal.”

The Red Bulls will take the point, especially considering how badly things have gone. But if this team is ever going to turn the corner on the season (and it’s rapidly running short on time) it will need to do a lot more. There is still no rhythm to the Red Bulls’ game. In the midfield, there are too many Indians and too few chiefs. Nobody has stepped up to lead, or to spearhead the team’s efforts going forward (though Zimmerman of all players has begun to show promise in that area). Osorio has thankfully removed some of the more toxic parts of the team’s roster (Khano Smith, Juan Pietravallo) from the rotation. But others, notably Jorge Rojas, still get major minutes. Meanwhile with Mattew Mbuta the Red Bulls have a player who could lend a spark to its attacking midfield (albeit on the right wing, where Zimmerman is showing so much promise) but is not getting a chance to do so. Zimmerman could easily play in central midfield in Rojas’ position, freeing up the right wing spot for Mbuta. Why Osorio doesn’t try this is unclear. So are many things about his coaching tenure, including how much longer it might last. With that, as with many things, Red Bulls fans are left waiting for answers.

RBNY player ratings (scale of 1-10, 10 being highest)

Danny Cepero: 7
No chance on the Montero goal. His point blank saves late in the game won this team a point it didn’t deserve. Seems to be getting his confidence back. The man of the match, hands down.

Jeremy Hall: 5
That mistake right before the half was lethal. Not bad otherwise. Showed some ideas going forward, which once again begs the question why he is playing on the back line? Only JCO knows.

Kevin Goldthwaite: 5.5
Was lucky not to pick up his second yellow card when he stomped on Sebastien Le Toux shortly before halftime. A bit reckless in other areas as well.

Carlos Mendes: 6.5
Pretty solid game. Did his job without major errors. Can’t ask for much more from a centerback.

Alfredo Pacheco: 6
Need to see more of him. Doesn’t appear to have many ideas other than launching long balls. Maybe lost interest?

Nick Zimmerman: 6.5
Another energetic performance. Set up Angel on what should have been the go-ahead goal in the second half. Clearly deserves to be a starter. Appears to be getting more comfortable each game. Will only get better with time. A bright spot on an otherwise forgettable campaign for the Red Bulls.

Albert Celades: 5.5
Strong first half, far too quiet in the second. Appears to drift in and out of games.

Seth Stammler: 5
Did he really play in this game? Was in the lineup but didn’t see him anywhere. Might have been a misprint.

Jorge Rojas: 5
More of the same, which is aimless dribbles that go nowhere.

Juan Pablo Angel: 5.5
Nice goal but should have scored one or two more. Has clearly lost a step. Maybe the natural grass of Red Bull Arena will invigorate his game next season. One can hope…

Macoumba Kandi: 6
Okay, we get it, you like the backheel. Unfortunately, the Sounders caught on to this trick as well. Kandji is a talented player who (like so many others) is playing out of position. He needs to make more of the balls he sees though. Less hotdogging.

Match Facts

Seattle Sounders FC 1, New York Red Bulls 1
June 20, 2009 – Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ

Scoring Summary:
NY: Angel 5 (unassisted) 40’
SEA: Montero 7 (unassisted) 48’+

Disciplinary Summary:
NY: Kandji (caution) 11’
NY: Goldthwaite (caution) 36’
SEA: Marshall (caution) 83’

Lineups:
Seattle Sounders FC (5-3-7, 22 pts.): Kasey Keller, Tyson Wahl, Tyrone Marshall, Patrick Ianni, James Riley, Steve Zakuani, Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Sebastien Le Toux (Sanna Nyassi 69’), Nate Jaqua (Roger Levesque 74’), Fredy Montero

Substitutes Not Used: Ben Dragavon, Peter Vagenas, Stephen King, Nathan Sturgis, Freddie Ljungberg

New York Red Bulls (2-10-4, 10 pts.): Danny Cepero, Alfredo Pacheco, Kevin Goldthwaite (Danleigh Borman 74’), Carlos Mendes, Mike Petke, Jeremy Hall, Jorge Rojas (Dane Richards 58’), Seth Stammler, Albert Celades (John Wolyniec 81’), Nick Zimmerman, Macoumba Kandji, Juan Pablo Angel

Substitutes not used: Jon Conway, Sinisa Ubiparipovic, Luke Sassano, Juan Pietravallo

Referee: Paul Ward
Referee’s Assistants: Chris Strickland, Claudio Badea
4th Referee: Jorge Gonzalez
Attendance: 14,313