2014 is looking a lot like 2013 for the New York Red Bulls. Slow start to the season? Check. Lots of penalties conceded? Check. A penchant for scoring on the last kick of the day? Check. On a rainy Sunday afternoon, the Red Bulls managed a 1-1 home draw with Chivas USA thanks to a very, very late header from Peguy Luyindula.

FULL HIGHLIGHTS

MATCH NOTES

A dire first half. Nothing went right in the first half, as New York and Chivas seemed more focused on fouling each other than playing soccer. New York managed all of a single shot on target, easily saved by Chivas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy. Forget the strides the team had made last week; they looked disjointed, out of sync, and lacking ideas.

Yet another penalty given away. For the third time in four matches, the Red Bulls conceded a penalty to get the visitors on the board. Richard Eckersley took the blame this week, knocking into Thomas McNamara. Erick "Cubo" Torres stepped to the spot and converted the penalty, but failed to do his signature robot celebration, so we're sure it shouldn't have counted.

Jokes aside: the Red Bulls are on pace to concede over 25 penalties this year. The back line must tighten up, especially with the blunders in the box. At the moment, the Red Bulls have thrown away more points thanks to penalties than they've actually earned.

Two injuries triggered early subs. Tim Cahill would come off shortly after the Chivas goal with a hamstring injury. While a full medical evaluation hasn't been done yet, even the most optimistic prognosis would probably have him missing at least next weekend's road trip to Montreal. Right before the half, Richard Eckersley also went down with a right ankle injury, allowing Kosuke Kimura to enter play for the first time this year. (Eckersley has done little to earn himself favor with fans, with one responding to the injury news with "Thank God. Hopefully he'll be out for a few games."

Signs of life in the second half. Seemingly aware of how bad the first half had been (coach Mike Petke claimed he said very little during halftime) the Red Bulls came flying back out of the locker room. With Lloyd Sam once again being the creative spark, NY generated 25 crosses and 11 shots in the second half. Some inspired saves from Dan Kennedy, one goal that was waived off for a foul, and some poor finishing kept New York off the score sheet for nearly all the half. Until...

Another goal at the death. We've been here twice before in the last year, but once again, a late stoppage time goal salvaged something out of a game that nearly slipped away. This time, Peguy Luyindula played the hero, rising to head home an Eric Alexander corner kick on what would be the last real action of the match.

Petke's not happy. We'll let Mike speak for himself:

You guys have to understand that it’s four games in. There is no panic button or panic but we’re actually one game better than we were last year after the first four games. However, I’m trying to not say the wrong thing if that makes sense, because I’m not happy. I’m not happy with a lot of things. [...] I’m going to take a very close look at this reserve game to be honest with you and I’m going to pay very close attention to the reserve players this week because there has to come a point that some of these kids are given an opportunity that they deserve. [...] We need some life in this team at times and you saw it in the second half but you saw it very sparingly throughout the first four games and that to me, talk tactics all you want, talk individual plays, but at the end of the day, if we’re going to come out flat like that, then might as well not come out at all.

Whatever malaise is making the team come out flat has to be eradicated. Sure, it's early in the season, and there is time to fix these issues. But they must be fixed quickly, because the schedule congestion of the Open Cup, the World Cup, and CONCACAF Champions League will only stretch the team further.

LOOKING AHEAD

It's back on the road for the Red Bulls, this time to Montreal, who are coming off a 1-1 draw of their own at Philadelphia on Saturday. Montreal, knowing how to leverage a competitive advantage when they see one, are opting to host the game in Montreal's Olympic Stadium, where the turf is downright terrible. So it's likely safe to mark Henry and Olave as a scratch due to health concerns, and plan for Cahill and Eckersley to miss out due to their injuries. Expect some reserves to get thrown into the lineup, even if Montreal has looked pretty wretched so far in 2014.

POST-MATCH REACTIONS

Goalkeeper Luis Robles on the performance: "Starting with the positives, we only gave up one shot on goal. In the second half we completely shut them down. Granted they changed their lineup, they were defending with eight back there. Unfortunately that shot on goal was a penalty. In three out of four games we’ve conceded penalties and it looks like we’re making a run for the record of most conceded penalties in a season. Obviously it was a tale of two halves. We’re still getting killed by our unforced errors and that’s something we’ll have to correct if we want to be successful this season."

Lloyd Sam on the mood at halftime: "I think we were all upset. That first half really was one of the worst halves of football I can remember us playing. It was so bad, at home especially I’ve never seen us be that bad. At halftime we just had a talk about how we were going to come out in the second half. We just knew we can’t come out how we came out in the first half. He said a few words, I can’t really remember what he said exactly but he didn’t need to say much. We knew that it wasn’t good enough."

Next Match: Saturday, April 5th 4:00 PM, at Montreal Impact (TV: MSG)