Red Bulls keep home streak alive in demoralizing fashion

The Red Bulls extended their home unbeaten streak and climbed into first place Saturday, but nobody in the locker room was celebrating this one. It was a desultory scoreless draw against sorry Real Salt Lake that felt like a defeat.

“Good game, except we don’t score goals and I have to take my part of the blame of course,” striker Fredrik Gulbrandsen said. “I had a lot of chances, and normally I should score on those. We had a lot of chances and we should win. … It’s very disappointing to sit here with only one point and we should’ve had the three.”

The one was enough to run the Red Bulls’ home unbeaten streak to 16 straight, and claw a point ahead of Atlanta and Orlando atop the East. But they will rue not beating a Real Salt Lake squad that was in disarray, without its head coach and winless.

“Anytime we don’t get three points at home, we’re disappointed. … The guys walked off the field like it was a loss,” said coach Jesse Marsch, who described Real Salt Lake’s cynical tactics as foul and able to “slow the game down almost obnoxiously.”

In the second half when the Red Bulls started to find an attacking rhythm, Real Salt Lake (0-2-2, two points) had 12 fouls and five yellow cards, while the hosts had one foul, and no bookings. But in the end it worked.

“We’re going to come up against that again this season,” Bradley WrightPhillips said. “We’ve got to find ways to not let that affect us.”

Real Salt Lake had fired head coach Jeff Cassar this week, with Daryl Shore handling Saturday’s game. And though Red Bulls fans were spared seeing club legend Mike Petke make his debut as an opposing coach — he’s on Real Salt Lake’s staff, but handling the USL side — Saturday will stick in their craw.

The offense lacked incisiveness and missed captain Sacha Kljestan, away with the U.S. National Team for World Cup qualifying. They took 18 shots, but just three on goal. Their first 11 were all awry, until they surged late, with seven shots and three on goal from the 64th minute on.

Gulbrandsen split Demar Phillips and Luke Mulholland, eluded Stephen “Sunny” Sunday’s tackle and fired a blast at keeper Matt VanOekel. Wright-Phillips put a shot on frame in the 80th, and Alex Muyl in the 90th.