The New York Red Bulls will try to increase their unbeaten streak to five matches when they visit Los Angeles FC on Saturday night.
The Red Bulls are 2-0-2 in the span that started with a 4-0 win over visiting Inter Miami on March 23. New York (4-1-3, 15 points) is tied for first place in the Eastern Conference with Miami.
The Saturday match will mark the first time that LAFC defender Aaron Long plays against the Red Bulls. Long spent six seasons with New York before signing with LAFC as a free agent prior to the 2023 season.
Long was MLS Defender of the Year with the Red Bulls in 2018.
He will look to help LAFC (3-3-2, 11 points) find their stride in what has been an uneven start.
LAFC are tied for sixth in the West after playing the host Portland Timbers to a 2-2 draw last week.
Mateusz Bogusz scored both goals for Los Angeles, including the equalizing tally in the 51st minute.
"The team fought well and played a lot of good football and created good chances," LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo said of the tie. "From my perspective, after watching the replay, we were very unlucky not to sneak away with three points. It's a step in the right direction."
Bogusz, Denis Bouanga and Timothy Tillman are tied for the team lead with three goals.
The Red Bulls played a scoreless tie against the visiting Chicago Fire last weekend. New York played a man down after Andres Reyes received a red card for violent conduct in the 42th minute.
Reyes will serve his red-card suspension against LAFC, and because the league tacked on an additional match suspension, he will also sit out against the Vancouver Whitecaps on April 27.
"We started the game well," New York defender Noah Eile said. "Created a couple chances to score, and then obviously the red card changed the game a little bit, but these things happen. I think we showed a great mentality from the whole team to fight and to manage to get the point, which can be important in the end."
Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel recorded his 32nd shutout with the franchise.
Lewis Morgan leads the Red Bulls with six goals, which puts him in a five-way tie for the league lead.
LAFC recorded a 2-0 victory over the visiting Red Bulls on June 26, 2022, in the teams' most recent meeting.
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