The Red Bulls walked off the field after their home opener yesterday delighted with the way they played, but disappointed with the result, pleased with one of their best performances in years but peeved at being held to a scoreless draw by archrival D.C. United.
After two galling late-game collapses on the road, they came home and outshot United 24-4 on a brisk snowy afternoon, including a 7-2 advantage in shots on goal. But they and the 22,022 fans that made the atmosphere electric walked out knowing they clearly left two points on the field yesterday.
“You have those days. And it sucks,’’ said coach Mike Petke, managing his first home game at the stadium he played in. “It sucks to sit back and watch it unfold and say what the hell do you have to do to get the ball to go in the back of the net. But I think we created a lot.
“A lot of things we’ve been working on since preseason came together today — the off-the-ball movement, the possession. …. It’s one of those moments the coaching staff came in afterward and said forget about the result, did you like what you saw? And we like what we saw.’’
How could they not? Fabian Espindola hit the crossbar twice, captain Thierry Henry was lively with ten shots — five of them on frame — and right back Brandon Barklage’s header a minute into extra time may have crossed the line before keeper Bill Hamid saved it, a shot that had the Red Bulls celebrating thinking they’d scored.
But referee Matt Geiger disagreed, and the Red Bulls settled for a draw, and just two points through their first three games.
“Juninho put a really good dipping ball in. I got my head onto it. I know it went far post. I don’t know if it went in or not. I’m pretty sure it didn’t. But it’s just unfortunate, another really good chance and we didn’t put the ball in the net,’’ said Barklage. “I started celebrating. You saw me jump in the air.’’
Barklage was part of the third different back four the Red Bulls have used in just three games. But this one had the look of a keeper.
They had blown a two-goal second-half lead and settling for a season-opening 3-3 tie at Portland. Then left back Roy Miller’s meltdown in San Jose — culpable on one goal, then conceding a penalty, and committing an encroachment that allowed a re-take — turned a win into a 2-1 loss.
Petke decided he had little choice but to bench Miller, and in light of the vitriol he would have received from the fans in the South Ward, released him early for World Cup qualifying with the Costa Rican National Team.
But yesterday the back line was solid, and the Red Bulls did a better job of pressuring D.C. and recovering the ball when they lost it. They held 57.4 percent possession, and that got even better once Juninho subbed on in the 68th minute.
Petke switched from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3 — more a reaction, he insisted, to United switching formations than protecting the 38-year-old Brazilian in the middle of the field — and they outshot D.C. 6-0 the rest of the way, but just couldn’t finish.
“We didn’t put the ball in the back of the net. I take responsibility for that, but I thought we played really well. We said we want to be a football team that can mix it up, play long,’’ said Cahill, who left for Australian’s World Cup qualifying match. “I really think we’re growing in training with what we’re trying to do. I wouldn’t say it was a fair result, but it felt good. We played fantastic.’’
brian.lewis@nypost.com