Wright-Phillips scores as New York rallies to draw with Vancouver

The New York Red Bulls rallied to salvage a 1-1 draw against the Vancouver Whitecaps in the first leg of the teams' CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal.

With both teams still navigating Major League Soccer's preseason, a decent amount of rust was expected, but the highly entertaining match saw both teams create numerous opportunities to score in the back-and-forth affair.

The Red Bulls were asking questions of the Vancouver defense throughout the opening 45 minutes and nearly found an opener when Gonzalo Veron crossed to Daniel Royer, but his headed effort missed narrowly over the crossbar.

Vancouver made New York pay minutes later from a set piece, as Kekuta Manneh redirected a Kendall Watson corner kick past Luis Robles in the 39th minute to give the visitors the lead at the break.

Sacha Kljestan would rue his effort from the penalty spot to open the second half, after Royer drew a foul in the Vancouver penalty area. The U.S. international tried to dink the ball past David Ousted, but the diving Whitecaps keeper made a kick-save, before Bradley Wright-Phillips skied his attempt from the rebound over the bar.

Kljestan had a chance again just minutes later, as he rose to head a Sal Zizzo cross on goal, but the ball trickled just wide of Ousted's left post.

Wright-Phillips finally broke the hosts' duck in the 62nd minute, when Veron inadvertently settled the ball right to the feet of the Red Bulls striker, who blasted a first-time shot past Ousted to level matters.

Cristian Techera was then sent off for the Whitecaps just after the 70-minute mark for a wild flying kick out at Zizzo, who immediately went to ground holding his thigh. Vancouver finished the match with 10 players.

With the man advantage, the Red Bulls poured forward in search of a winner, but Ousted and the Vancouver defense held firm and will return to Cascadia with the slight advantage of an away goal ahead of the return leg on March 2.