It says something about the Red Bulls that they extended MLS’ last undefeated record with a come-from-behind 1-1 tie against Los Angeles.
It may say even more that they dominated the Galaxy, and the defending champions were all too happy to escape with a draw at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J.
They got a 58th-minute goal from midfielder Felipe to negate a brilliant 9th-minute individual effort from Bradford Jamieson IV. The Red Bulls (3-0-3) carried play for much of the game without finding a winner, settling for a point that had them feeling like they’d dropped two.
“We never had any doubt,’’ said midfielder Sacha Kljestan. “Something we can take a positive out of is the L.A. Galaxy, the defending champions, come into our stadium now and they’re so happy to walk out with a draw.
“They wanted to kill the game off from the first minute. They didn’t care about anything except getting a point. You see that respect from other teams … and that’s important. When teams come here, they’re a little bit scared of us — and that’s big.’’
With good reason. Unbeaten through six game for the first time, the Red Bulls’ 12 points are third in the East, two behind co-leaders D.C. and New England. But they have two games in hand on New England and one on rival United, the only other MLS team averaging two points-per-game.
They’ve made life tough on visiting teams, with an MLS-best 115 points at home since 2012. And after getting blasted 4-0 at the Galaxy in their only meeting last year, they carried play Sunday night but had to settle for a tie thanks to Felipe’s first goal in a Red Bull uniform.
“They came here to sit back and counter against us. I think they did a pretty good job, they played well. We were unlucky not to get three points, so it was a little disappointing,’’ said Felipe, whose equalizer was more hard work than work of art. But he’ll take it all the same.
Sal Zizzo — who started at left midfield instead of Mike Grella — sent in a cross that Bradley Wright-Phillips controlled. His shot got blocked by defender A.J. DeLaGarza, but hit an onrushing Felipe in the face and rebounded into the net.
“I was lucky to follow the action and the ball went right to my head. … I was completely lucky,’’ Felipe said.
The Red Bulls held 60.7 percent possession and outshot L.A. 14-8, including Wright-Phillips getting stoned at point-blank range by Galaxy goalkeeper Jaime Penedo, forcing a leaping save in the 74th.
“I’d say it’s a good result in the sense that we came back from one down,” Dax McCarty said. “But it’s a bad result in the sense that we dominated the game and feel like we dropped two points today. It’s a little frustrating. It certainly felt like a dominant performance; but any time you come off the field without three points it’s always a disappointment.
“I thought we were the better team, but I think they’re going to be very happy coming out of here with a draw and we’re going to be a bit more upset we didn’t get three points.’’
With the Red Bulls hosting Colorado Wednesday and playing Saturday at New England, Jesse Marsch expects returning Ronald Zubar and Roy Miller to feature vs. the Rapids.