Toronto earns draw with Red Bulls

Associated Press

Originally published 10:48 p.m., May 1, 2008
Updated 10:48 p.m., May 1, 2008

Photo by Aaron Harris, Associated Press

New York's Dave van den Bergh, center, celebrates his goal with teammates Hunter Freeman, left, and Mike Magee.

Photo by Aaron Harris, Associated Press

Dane Richards, of the Red Bulls, is stymied by Toronto keeper Greg Sutton.

Photo by Aaron Harris, Associated Press

Toronto's Marco Velez outleaps Red Bulls striker Juan Pablo Angel for the ball as Jozy Altidore looks on.

TORONTO — Marco Velez scored his first MLS goal to help Toronto FC earn a 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls on Thursday night.

Dave van den Bergh scored for New York (2-1-2) on a free kick in the 39th minute as Toronto’s franchise-high three-game win streak came to an end.

“They’re disappointed in there, and they’re disappointed because they know how far we’ve come,” Toronto coach John Carver said.

Toronto (3-2-1) opened the scoring for the fourth consecutive game, when Laurent Robert’s curling free kick from 20 yards found a wide-open Velez in the 22nd minute.

New York answered when Toronto defender Tyrone Marshall was called for a hand ball just outside the penalty area, and van den Bergh fired a free kick to the left corner past Toronto goalkeeper Greg Sutton.

“I think we’ve got higher expectations this season, and you could see it after the game,” Sutton said. “Obviously we were very disappointed we couldn’t come away with a win. But at the same time, we’re still positive with our defensive effort again.”

“We got a ’scruffy point’ as I call it. We’ve not really been on top form; we’ve not really played a great deal of football,” Carver said. “But I will not fault their effort. I thought their effort was fantastic.”

The Red Bulls had an excellent chance to tie the game before they finally got on the scoreboard, when Juan Pablo Angel headed a shot just high of Toronto’s net.

The two goals were the only shots on net in the first half.

“First half, (Toronto) had one chance, and they scored,” van den Bergh said. “Give them credit for that — that shouldn’t have happened. If we were a little more focused on the play, that wouldn’t have happened.

“I thought we dominated a good team in their house,” he said.

The game threatened to get ugly in the second half when Robert picked up a yellow card for shoving New York’s Hunter Freeman after Robert was knocked down from behind. Two minutes later, Toronto newcomer and former MLS MVP Amado Guevara got a yellow card for a foul.

Guevara had a chance to give Toronto another victory in the 90th minute. The creative midfielder had a wide-open shot from just outside the 18-yard box, but he fired it straight at the goalkeeper.

Guevara was facing his former team Thursday. The Honduran midfielder played for New York — then the MetroStars — from 2003 through 2006. Guevara was coming off a two-goal effort in Toronto’s 2-0 win over Kansas City on Saturday.