Three minutes later, the Red Bulls went in front 1-0 thanks to keeper Chris Seitz's indecision. The rookie probably could have come off his line and corralled Mathis' bouncing ball into the box, but he hesitated slightly, enabling Dane Richards to get there first and tap it into the net.

In the 28th minute, New York went up 2-0 as Mathis buried a one-on-one against Seitz created by a bad giveaway in the midfield by Mehdi Ballouchy.

In the second half, RSL's play improved drastically after a few simple tactical adjustments, not to mention the fact that Carey Talley said the team really didn't want to let Kreis down.

"I think we came out and worked our tail off for him," said Talley. "We made some mistakes, but we sure do make up for them."

Klein trimmed the lead to 2-1 61st minute on a left-footed laser that curled just inside the post.

After Mathis' goal in the 83rd, Talley was fouled in the box by Jeff Parke in the 89th minute and Cunningham buried the resulting penalty. Second-half substitute Brown tied two minutes later on an assist from Freddy Adu.

ENDLINES: RSL's next four matches are on the road, including this Thursday at Colorado. Real committed 12 fouls Saturday, the first time its reached double digits in that category this year.

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E-mail: jedward@desnews.com