Freddie Ljungberg made his presence felt in his Fire home debut, but it was a late lockdown by the defense and rookie goalkeeper Sean Johnson that saved the day against the Red Bulls on Sunday.
New York pressed aggressively in the final minutes but couldn't convert as the teams played to a 0-0 deadlock in front of 21,868 fans — the most at a Fire game at Toyota Park.
"In the last 20 or so minutes they were attacking us pretty strong," said Johnson, who recorded his first career shutout. "We were very organized and I didn't have a problem. We were strong for 90 minutes."
The Red Bulls (8-6-4, 28 points) had 22 shots, including 16 in the second half as they controlled much of the tempo during the final 45 minutes. They had seven shots on goal for the game, including four from Juan Pablo Angel.
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