The New York Red Bulls and Vancouver Whitecaps settled for a point apiece Saturday evening, playing to a 1-1 draw in Harrison, N.J.
Lewis Morgan’s 56th-minute goal canceled out an opening goal by former Red Bulls striker Brian White, securing a third straight draw for a New York side forced to see out the final quarter-hour, plus stoppage time, with 10 men.
White, facing his old team for the first time since being traded to Vancouver in June 2021, put the Whitecaps ahead in the 14th minute, tapping in a cross from Ryan Raposo past Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel for his team-high fifth goal of the season.
It was also White’s 44th goal for Vancouver across all competitions, a club record in its MLS era dating back to 2011.
The Flemington, N.J., native, who had a host of family members present for his return to Red Bull Arena, nearly made it 2-0 in the 30th minute as he found himself one-on-one with Coronel but saw his chance erased.
Morgan, though, eventually leveled the match in the 56th minute. Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka got his hand to a New York corner but the ball found the path of the Scottish winger, whose diving header put his team on level terms.
New York (4-1-5, 17 points) was reduced to 10 players in the 74th minute, as Noah Eile was shown a red card for a handball that denied a clear Vancouver scoring opportunity.
But the Whitecaps (5-5-2, 17 points), who entered the evening having won their first three away matches of the season, were unable to capitalize on the man advantage.
They came close in the 80th minute as an Ali Ahmed shot was kept out by Coronel, and then once more deep in stoppage time as Ahmed’s shot deflected off a New York defender inside the scoring area but failed to find its target.
-Field Level Media