The New York Red Bulls rescued a point in stoppage time against Atlanta United with a late equalizer, courtesy of Bradley Wright-Phillips, but head coach Chris Armas doesn't it see it that way. He thinks his side deserved all three points at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
New York fell behind in the first half but equalized before the break then took the lead in the second half. They had grown dominant over the hosts, as their press suffocated Atlanta on numerous occasions. The Red Bulls looked more likely to keep scoring than to concede.
“Well, it is a tie that feels good in the end, but man we thought we had the game," Armas said after the game. "We thought we had a grasp on it and we thought on the day that we were the better team."
The game changed on a penalty call. With the Red Bulls up 2-1, Josef Martinez was brought down by Kyle Duncan, which the Venezuelan scored. He then added a second to give Atlanta the lead before BWP's equalizer. Armas wasn't convinced by the call.
He went as far as to say that Martinez goes down easily.
"We see Danny Royer get the position earlier in the game and gets bumped from behind and he doesn’t roll around and go down easy like MartÃnez does," Armas said. "He goes down really easy. Danny is one of the most honest superstars in the league. He doesn’t get that treatment though."
The Red Bulls could have gone above Atlanta in the Eastern Conference with a win, but will have to settle for a point. The rivalry between the two teams seems to always produce great encounters.
“It’s not worth more than three points, but it certainly feels that way," Armas said. "It is a team that we have had to go through and they have had to go through us. Last year we take the Supporters’ Shield from them, they win MLS Cup and beat us in the playoffs. There is a growing history there. Anytime you come to this building, you have to recognize their organization and their supporters. What an environment and atmosphere."
