Red Bulls 1, D.C. United 1: Missed chances and home-field advantage could decide series

The New York Red Bulls and D.C. United played to a 1-1 draw Saturday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The tie in the two-game, aggregate-goals series creates a lot of drama heading into Game 2, which will be played Wednesday at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey.

The post-game reaction from SB Nation nation blog Black & Red United had them kicking themselves for mistakes and missed chances.

United was the better team for the majority of this match. Even when playing down a man, United was getting good chances and good looks. The finishing wasn't quite there, but neither was the luck, and neither was the officiating.

Meanwhile, the message over at the SB Nation blog Once A Metro is: All that matters is New York will have a home game in the series finale.

It's a situation many believed wouldn't be the case earlier in the week, when Hurricane Sandy rolled through the tri-state area.

It's no secret the Red Bulls aren't the best road team. They went 16-9-9 over the course of the season, but 11 of those wins came at home, along with two losses and four draws. On the road, the Red Bulls went an iffy 5-7-5.

The playoff series will resume Wednesday when New York hosts D.C. Game 2 is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET and will be shown on NBC Sports Network.