Published 5/6/2012 5:47:07 AM by William Montero from soccermogul

The two big boys of MLS squared off Saturday night at The Home Depot Center as the Galaxy and New York Red Bulls met in front of a national ESPN audience.  

New York created very few opportunities on the night, but Joel Lindpere made one of theose count as his goal stood up in the 1-0 victory.  Jan Gunnar Solli carried the ball down the left flank and slipped a pass inside to Lindpere, who burst through midfield untracked. With Galaxy defenders collapsing around him, Lindpere somehow knocked the ball through a crowd and past Bill Gaudette for the game’s only goal.

Los Angeles was the better team all night long, but could never get that final ball to break down the Red Bull defense.  The Galaxy were most dangerous on set pieces, but were never able to find the net on one.  The closest LA would come to a leveler was off the foot of Juninho in the 82nd minute. The Brazilian lined up a patented 20-yard drive, but Meara was there to tip cleanly over the bar.

Down the stretch, New York did well to kill off the lead with some quality hold-up play from Kenny Cooper and sub Juan Agudelo, who made his return to the Red Bulls from a long injury layoff when he replaced Solli in the 82nd minute. The makeshift defense, meanwhile, held firm. Emergency right back Brandon Barklage in particular did yeoman's work helping Meara clear his lines.

With the loss, LA drop to 3-5-1, seventh place in the Western Conference. New York, meanwhile, claim their second 1-0 victory in a row, now solidly in third place in the East at 5-3-1.

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