2:2 Salt Lake New York Plata Grossman Olave Bustamante 02.13.13 · Preseason

New York fought back from two goals down with strikes from Jamison Olave and Michael Bustamante, as the Red Bulls remained unbeaten in 2013 preseason play with a 2-2 tie against Real Salt Lake in their first match of the Desert Diamond Cup at Kino Sports Complex. With the result, New York improved its preseason record to 2-0-1.

Despite dominating much of the play during the first half, Real Salt Lake scored two quick goals to start the game. Less than a minute in, Joao Plata ran onto a loose ball in New York's defensive third and slid it past goalkeeper Santiago Castano and into the net. In the third minute, Cole Grossman doubled Real Salt Lake's lead, knocking home a rebound after Castano did well to save a Plata shot.

However, the Red Bulls immediately put the pressure on the Western Conference side for the rest of the half and had several chances to score. New York defender Brandon Barklage forced Josh Saunders to parry away his blast in the 10th minute before the Real Salt Lake goalkeeper kept the Red Bulls off the board again later, blocking Lloyd Sam's redirected attempt from close range.

The Red Bulls' persistence paid off in the 30th minute with Olave scoring against his former club. Juninho's poorly cleared corner kick fell to Olave in the six yard box and the defender hammered it in with his right foot. New York kept its foot on the pedal and midfielder Tim Cahill beat Saunders five minutes from the break with a header off a Dax McCarty pass that slammed off the crossbar.

New York made eight changes at halftime and tied the game in the 61st minute. Roy Miller found space on the left wing and his cross into the box found Bustamante, who fired it into the back of the net.