The New York Red Bulls and Minnesota United FC battled to a 2-2 draw at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Saturday night.
New York opened the scoring in the 11th minute. Kyle Duncan played a vertical through ball to Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting who dribbled past a defender in the box and crossed the ball across the six-yard box to Emil Forsberg who placed a shot into the bottom right corner.
Minnesota even the scored in the 32nd minute. Joaquin Pereyra slipped a through ball to Kelvin Yeboah who laced a shot into the bottom left corner of the net.
Minnesota gained the lead in the 45th minute when Jefferson Diaz flicked a header off a long throw in into the box to Anthony Markanich, who brought the ball down with his chest and struck a left footed shot into the top right corner of the net.
New York equalized in the 90th minute. Duncan whipped in a one-time cross into the box to Choupo-Moting who hit a right footed volley into the back of the net.
"Great effort from the whole group, especially the second half," Head Coach Sandro Schwarz said. "It's not so easy, especially against Minnesota. And with the second question, they are very good in transition moments, and you have always top find the right moments when you attack, and that was good. That was really, really good of the whole team and I'm really proud and I'm happy that we scored and that we didn't lose this game."
Forsberg scored his sixth goal of the season and 15th of his career with New York.
"Unbelievable," Forsberg said of the atmosphere at Sports Illustrated Stadium. "I don't know if you guys heard before we started the game, how noisy it was, how nice it was, it was unbelievable. So for me, it was incredible. It was a boost. And just happy everybody came out and sorry we couldn't deliver three points, but we keep on."
Choupo-Moting scored his 11th goal of the season, which is tied with Devan Joveljic, Hugo Cuypers, Evander and Kevin Denkey for the third-most goals in the league.
Choupo-Moting tallied his second assist of the season and his fifth goal contribution in his last four appearances.
Sean Nealis made his 150th career MLS appearance, becoming the seventh player in franchise history to reach that milestone.
Nealis also made his 175th appearance across all competitions for the club, which ties him with Aaron Long for second place in franchise history for most appearances across all competitions for a defender.
Duncan tallied his second and third assist of the season. He also dished his 18th and 19th career assists and surpassed John Tolkin for most assists by a defender across all competitions in franchise history.
"When we go down, we stick together and it’s next man up," Duncan said. "If one man misses the ball in the pressing, then it’s the next man up. We've got each other's backs."
New York Red Bulls Head Coach Sandro Schwarz received a red card following the match and will be suspended for the team's next match.
New York will travel to PayPal Park to face San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday, July 5. Kickoff is set for 10:30 p.m. ET with coverage on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV in English and Spanish, and New York Red Bulls Radio presented by Sports Illustrated in English via the New York Red Bulls app and NewYorkRedBulls.com.
