Charlotte FC picks up a point against New York Red Bulls

Charlotte FC returned to MLS play with a match against New York Red Bulls that ended in a draw.

Two of Charlotte’s summer transfer acquisitions made their debuts in the match. Tim Ream started at center back for Charlotte and Pep Biel came on as a sub in the 66^th minute.

Charlotte got the scoring started early when Kerwin Vargas went down in the box, being awarded a penalty. Karol Świderski took the penalty for Charlotte and scored, putting Charlotte up 1-0 in the 13^th minute.

Both teams were able to get into the final third several times but struggled to get a shot off in the first 30 minutes of the match. In the 30^th minute, the Red Bulls had a ball deflected and cleared out by Tim Ream leading to a long shot from John Tolkin that forced Kristijan Kahlina to make an acrobatic save near the crossbar.

Charlotte had a chance at another goal in the 33^rd minute when Adilson Malanda played a ball from the back to Liel Abada on the right wing, who took a shot that was saved at the near post.

Charlotte had another opportunity to score in the 37^th minute when Abada had a pass deflected, falling near Świderski in the middle of the box, but Świderski could not get a clean strike on the ball. The Red Bulls took advantage of this and went on a counterattack, leaving Charlotte scrambling to get back on defense and allowing a goal from Elias Manoel to make the score 1-1.

Early in the second half, both teams had a header from a free kick miss the goal. Following the misses from each team, there was not much action.

In the 65^th minute, Kahlina collected the ball from a cross and delivered a great pass from a throw to Abada at the halfway line, leaving one defender between Abada and the goal. Abada passed the ball to Patrick Agyemang who took a heavy touch just outside of the box, allowing the keeper to easily collect the ball.

The Red Bulls had a shot miss wide left in the 71^st minute with Charlotte getting a chance a few minutes later when Vargas had a shot from outside the box saved in the 77^th minute. Charlotte put another shot on goal in the 80^th minute with a header from Pep Biel.

Charlotte caught a break in the 86^th minute when the Red Bulls had the ball in front of the goal and the shot went over the crossbar.

The final whistle blew after three minutes added, ending the match in a 1-1 draw.

Throughout the match, possession was close to even, but the Red Bulls had 19 shots compared to just nine shots for Charlotte, although they both had four shots on goal.

Charlotte still does not seem to have an answer for Elias Manoel, whose goal was the seventh career goal he has scored against Charlotte FC.

With both teams picking up a point, they remain in the same position in MLS Eastern Conference standings with Charlotte in sixth and Red Bulls in fourth.

Charlotte FC will remain at home for their next match against Atlanta United on Saturday, August 31 with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST and streaming on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.