Sports

Red Bulls settle for draw with Toronto FC

Facing a Toronto FC team they desperately needed to beat, they settled for a 2-2 draw. Sure, a dramatic one, but it was dropped points nonetheless.

They seemed destined for a loss before 20,176, when Bradley Wright-Phillips turned destiny around with a clutch 93rd minute equalizer.

Still, the Red Bulls returned from MLS’ World Cup break showing the same flaws as before: They still can’t protect their home field or avoid silly defensive gaffes.

“It’s annoying because it’s only a point. … We lost two points, buried,’’ Thierry Henry said. “If you look at the goals, you can avoid them, especially the first one. We gave away the ball cheaply and we conceded a goal. Usually you pay the price.’’

Those two points were costly for the fifth-place Red Bulls (4-5-7, 19 points), who stayed a point behind Toronto despite having played four more games.

The Red Bulls went ahead early on midfielder Peguy Luyindula’s header off an Ambroise Oyongo cross, but allowed Jermain Defoe’s 55th minute equalizer and substitute Gilberto’s blistering 72nd minute free kick — after Defoe smacked the ball out of his own teammate’s hand, insisting he take the shot.

“Oh my gosh, I don’t know the last time I’ve seen a ball hit that hard,’’ said goalkeeper Luis Robles. “I guess the right guy took it.’’

The Red Bulls salvaged the draw with a minute left in stoppage time. After Matt Miazga’s long free kick, midfielder Tim Cahill — who had just arrived late Wednesday from World Cup duty and came on in the 78th minute — headed the ball to Wright-Phillips for his MLS-high 12th goal.

“As soon as I won two headers they didn’t want to come challenge and have the physical battle,” Cahill said. “Once I saw them peel off, they went backwards without looking where their man was. It was nice to put it in a good area for Bradley to finish.”

“It’s simple with [Wright-Phillips],’’ Henry said. “If you find him in the box, usually he will put it in the back of the net.’’

Despite the win, the Red Bulls are still just 2-2-3 at home, and have allowed an unsightly 24 goals this year. Looking to infuse a spark in his aging team, coach Mike Petke went young in his defense, with Miazga (18), Chris Duvall (22) and Oyongo (23) having a combined four starts before Friday. In his first MLS start, Oyongo had a great cutback to assist the first goal while Miazga notched an assist on the second.

“This is a league that we play plenty of teams in this league that are young and enthusiastic and have energy. … If you don’t match that you’re behind the eight-ball from the start of the game,’’ Petke said. “So I’m going to do what I feel I need to do to get that energy. … A lot of players have the talent on this team but we need to have an effort every game.’’