Fire midfielder Chris Mueller (8) looks up at his goal as Red Bulls defender Tom Edwards (7) defends. (Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)
Well, the Red Bulls still can’t win at home but at least they didn’t lose on Wednesday night.
Second-half substitute Patryk Klimala scored in stoppage to salvage a point for the Red Bulls, who played the struggling Chicago Fire to a 3-3 draw at Red Bull Arena. Klimala scored from seven yards off an Omir Fernandez feed.
Only minutes prior, the hosts’ hopes for a point appeared doomed at Xherdan Shaqiri picked up a loose ball and scored from 16 yards to lift Chicago into a 3-2 lead before a crowd of 13,257.
Still, the Red Bulls remained winless at home this MLS season at 0-2-4, while they are astonishing 5-0-1 on the road.
“A little bit disappointed feeling right now,,” head coach Gerhard Struber said. “Again, we cannot bring at home the right points. We expect today a win. We expect a victory, a very clear victory.
“In the end, 3-3 at home against Chicago is not our standard and we cannot be happy with that.”
They thought 😤@Audi I #RBNY pic.twitter.com/OH6Z5b2tS6
— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) May 19, 2022
The draw was in direct contrast to the 1-1 tie at the Philadelphia Union on Saturday.
“A little bit of a different feeling from the tie against Philadelphia,” said Cameron Harper, who scored his first MLS goal. “In Philadelphia, we were down to 10 men and we go to difficult place to go and we get a point. This one feels a bit more bitter. Obviously, you want to win every game at home, I think that is the standard really, so yeah, he [Struber] was upset and not to happy with us and we are not too happy with how we performed.”
Added Klimala: “We still didn’t win at home, so that’s a disappointing result for us.”
The teams traded goals in the first half.
The Red Bulls were the first side to celebrate after defender Jhon Espinoza knocked down Omir Fernandez in the penalty area. Lewis Morgan, who wasn’t supposed to start, converted as he slotted his attempt to the lower right corner past goalkeeper Gaga Slonina in the 18th minute.
Never a doubt 😤@Audi I #RBNY pic.twitter.com/3SaqSzb4Tl
— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) May 19, 2022
The visitors equalized in the 38th minute. Despite being surrounded by four players in the box, Chris Mueller managed to wiggle away from them, found some space on the right side of the goal box before roofing his shot past keeper Carlos Coronel for a 1-1 deadlock.
Four minutes into the second half, Wyatt Omsberg lifted the Fire into a 2-1 edge. He headed home a headed pass by Jhon Duran at the far right post following a Chicago corner kick.
The Red Bulls were gifted a tying goal in the 58th minute. Cameron Harper, making his first start, send a savable 14-yard shot that somehow glanced off Slonina’s hands and over the goalkeeper’s head and into the net in the 58th minute.
The leveler from @cameron__harper 👏@Audi I #RBNY pic.twitter.com/fIz8Vt0kgx
— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) May 19, 2022
On a free kick from outside the penalty area in the 78th minute, Shaqiri almost gave the visitors the lead as his left-footed attempt bounded off the outside of the right post.
