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Pictures of New York Red Bulls Halftime show with Rihanna, Wyclef Jean & Shakira.

Rihanna sang the national anthem, and Shakira and Wyclef Jean performed at halftime. Wyclef Jean wore 16-year-old Red Bulls rookie Josmer Altidore's No. 17 jersey, because both are of Haitian descent.

Red Bulls can't cash in on scoring chances

BY JANE HAVSY

DAILY RECORD

EAST RUTHERFORD --With five minutes left in Red Bull New York's home opener, a chunk of the Giants Stadium lights went out. It did nothing to dim the offense on the field, though the Red Bulls finished in a scoreless draw with New England.

Accuracy, not opportunity, was the home team's biggest problem on Saturday night. The Red Bulls took 14 shots, but only two were on goal.

Midfielder Amado Guevara had the best of the bunch with a minute left, a bending ball that was headed just under the crossbar before Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis leaped and pushed it over the net. Midfielder Chris Henderson had the other true scoring chance from the left wing with 12 minutes to go.

The Red Bulls (0-0-2, 2 pts.) had two free kicks just outside the box, two minutes apart early in the second half. But striker Youri Djorkaeff sent one over the goal, and the second off the Revs' defensive wall giving Reis an easy save.

"Obviously we're disappointed," Henderson said. "We can take a little pride in not giving up a goal, but disappointed with creating a few chances. Myself, I had a few chances on the wing which I don't usually get. We've got to take advantage of that."

Head coach Mo Johnston has tried to fit the Red Bulls into a quick, short-passing style, utilizing the wings, but that failed on Saturday. Guevara, still getting back into shape after springing about 10 days away from training to obtain his green card, kept trying to pressure the New England defenders. Guevara's lack of defense forced Djorkaeff to come back and play the ball, leaving Edson Buddle up front alone.

Said Johnston, simply, "I was wanting more from Amado Guevara tonight."

Both teams' best first-half chances came in the last five minutes.

Revolution striker Taylor Twellman apparently scored after being left wide open in front of the Red Bulls' goal, but it was called offside. New York goalkeeper Tony Meola then kicked the ball back down the field to Djorkaeff, who received it and shot just wide right from outside the penalty area. After getting another pass from Djorkaeff, Buddle gave Henderson a stellar back heel in the final minute of the first half, but again the shot was wide right.

Buddle had also put a long-range rocket off the right post with 15 minutes left in the first half.

"We were missing good fortune," Guevara said through a translator. "We had a lot of opportunities, but obviously none of them went in. We have to be patient."

But the team's new ownership might not be willing to wait.

New York's home opener was the culmination of about three weeks of chaos, beginning when Red Bull purchased the MLS team formerly known as the MetroStars and re-branded it. The Austrian energy-drink company paid an estimated $100,000 to lay down a natural grass field over the FieldTurf at Giants Stadium.

The long list of pregame and halftime festivities bubbled over into the stands, where the 35,793 fans -- the largest crowd for a New York home opener since 1996, Major League Soccer's inaugural season -- actually managed to get the wave going around Giants Stadium.

"We're all trying to sell this sport here in America," Johnston said. "Hopefully the fans will come back."

Corner kicks

The Red Bulls are 6-3-2 in home openers, defeating New England three times. ... Goalkeepers Tony Meola (New York) and Matt Reis (New England) will be teammates for the United States on Tuesday, which will play an international friendly against Jamaica in Cary, N.C.. Meola is expected to start, making his 100th career appearance for the national team. ... Twellman made his 100th MLS appearance on Saturday. ... Rihanna sang the national anthem, and Shakira and Wyclef Jean performed at halftime. Jean wore 16-year-old Red Bulls rookie Josmer Altidore's No. 17 jersey, because both are of Haitian descent.