Call it controversial, call it questionable, or call it soft. Whatever your adjective of choice, the New York Red Bulls were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw in their home opener against Colorado thanks to a disputed penalty call. Thierry Henry scored New York's only goal.

FULL HIGHLIGHTS

MATCH NOTES

The defense was more unified this week. After the horror show in Vancouver, it was a relief to see the defense working together. Olave and Armando teamed up well in the center, and Roy Miller and Richard Eckersley made an effort to integrate into the attack.

Thierry Henry, don't quit your day job. On the end of a Lloyd Sam cross, Henry got low to put a diving header past rookie goalkeeper John Berner for his first goal of the year. The goal was his 42nd for the Red Bulls, giving him sole possession of the second spot on the all time club goalscoring record. But when it comes bizarre goal celebrations, Henry did not disappoint: he demanded a camera operator move out of the way so he could shoot the video for his own goal celebration.

Titi, you may want to take a class or two about composing a shot before taking over broadcast duties in the future. Or better yet, maybe just stick to scoring goals. You're quite good at that.

MLS had its "replacement refs moment". When the union that represents MLS officials and the league could not agree on a new collective bargaining agreement before the start of the season, a lockout ensued and replacement refs were brought in. While many MLS fans felt the replacements were more than adequate last week, the phantom penalty call at Red Bull Arena is swinging the court of public opinion the other way.

With a high pass coming in, both Colorado's Martin Chavez and New York's Jamison Olave went to get into position. Chavez backed in as Olave was stepping forward, and Chavez immediately fell over dead as though he was hit by a truck. Referee Alan Kelly pointed to the spot, and as the crowd howled, Vicente Sanchez converted the chance to ultimately earn Colorado the draw.

You can watch the call here, and listen as Colorado's announcers, generally considered some of the biggest homers in MLS, describe it as "a little soft":

Words we never thought we'd say: we miss Mark Geiger and Ricardo Salazar. Guys, please, come back. We're sorry.

Lloyd Sam is earning his spot. For the second week in a row, Lloyd Sam was one of the brightest spots on the Red Bulls lineup. Petke talked earlier this week about the battle for the right midfield spot, but Sam's spark has created two assists in two games, which should outweigh Alexander's workman-like contributions.

A lack of energy and ideas is becoming a worrying issue. While the Red Bulls started and ended strong, there were multiple stretches throughout the match where they looked lost. The work rate just isn't quite there yet, so the team needs to be able to put in a complete performance - and not lose the plot after giving up a goal, as they did last week as well.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Chicago Fire await on the road. The last time New York took on Chicago, it was at home in the final game of last season, and a dominant performance saw New York lift the Supporters' Shield. But at Toyota Park, the Red Bulls have yet to win in 10 tries. We will hope Petke's squad can get it together, if only so won't be forced to use the same headline for a third straight year.

POST-MATCH REACTIONS

Coach Mike Petke on what prevented the team from getting a win: "Lack of creativity, lack of imagination and unfortunate not to put away some of the chances we had. At the end of the day the first two teams we’ve played the average age is somewhere around 27, 26, 25 maybe I’m pushing the button. You could see, from Vancouver to here, the work rate that these teams put in. I’ve said it all along from last year to now to our guys, in this league you have to match the work rate and the intensity. After that, the better team wins. The talent rises usually."

Goalkeeper Luis Robles on the replacement referees: "There’s been some chatter but for the most part it is just part of the game we have to face right now. I feel like for the most part they have done a good job. I hope we get our referees in there as soon as possible and I hope they end up getting what it is they are looking for, but, it hasn’t been something we think about or even talk about too much."

Lloyd Sam on his performance: "Well we drew 1-1 so that’s all that’s on my mind right now, like that should have been three points I think and after going one-nil up, to give that away. So, it doesn’t really matter how I played because we got to win games, especially at home."

Thierry Henry if there's any panic: "No there’s no panic. Like I said to you, we have to go back to the film next week and do better because it wasn’t obviously enough to win the game today. But yeah, we were in that situation last year. We wanted to start better, but we obviously as you saw didn’t. It’s going to be a tough game against Chicago next week, so we have to prepare for that."

Mike Petke on the refereeing: "Listen, there's no chance I'm going to answer that anywhere near to how you want me to answer that. I think it’s no different than the last 13 years. There’s always calls you agree with and there’s always calls you disagree with, period. I’m not questioning, I’m not criticizing whatsoever. The yellow card on Armando, I could be completely wrong and everyone here could disagree with me, but he jumped up, was the first to win the ball, then the opponent jumps up into his arms and he gets a yellow for that. Again it’s one of those things where perhaps he saw something I didn’t. The referees aren’t the issue with anything today."

Referee Alan Kelly on the penalty call: "Yeah I saw a challenge from behind from the defender on the attacker. And the second question you had in terms of did [Olave] initiate the contact? Yes, he did. That’s pretty much it. I don’t mean to be blunt, but in terms of the questions that’s the straightforward answers I can give."

Next Match: Sunday, March 23rd 3:00 PM, at Chicago (TV: MSG)