ORLANDO, Fla. -- Sacha Kljestan’s latest display of midfield virtuosity left New York Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch delighted, despite his team failing to snatch all three points from a hard-fought game at Orlando City SC.

Ultimately, Marsch was pleased with the 1-1 draw, and happy with Kljestan’s glowing form in setting up the goal for Bradley Wright-Phillips – and almost creating another for Felipe Martins – to take his league-leading assist tally to six.

“Sacha’s ability to dictate the game, see plays, set up the attacking players, find gaps in midfield and also meet the demands of how we want him to play physically, makes him the perfect No. 10 for us,” Marsch stated. “As high as the expectations I’ve had for him, he has exceeded them. When every team that plays us knows how important he is, he still manages to have great games and dictate the flow of the game.

“Obviously the play he made to set up the goal was very big. I thought he had a lot of good plays, and it was just a little unlucky that Felipe’s shot hit [teammate Gonzalo] Veron so that we weren’t able to walk away with the win.”

Marsch was not in the least surprised at the number of cards – all nine of them – that littered a feisty and often chippy game between two teams that are fast becoming serious rivals.

“We knew we were going to get Orlando’s best,” he said. “They threw a lot at us, they were very aggressive, they wanted to win a lot of the midfield battles, and it made for a very physical game.

“I think the referee had a hard time managing it, not to say it was an easy game to manage, but overall, that’s what good teams are about. Sometimes it’s not all about beautiful football; it’s about digging it out, fighting your way through and preventing the other team from making plays.”

The Red Bulls’ head coach admitted he was happy to dig in and take a share of the spoils after Orlando equalized through Kevin Molino.

“We came down here for three [points] but then you start playing the game,” Marsch observed. “It’s not easy on the turf and, in front of the incredible energy of the crowd, once it is 1-1 it is a difficult game and you are just trying to figure out ways to walk out with a point. It was well-deserved and we keep the momentum going.”

Marsch was delighted with a first outing from Aurelien Collin, newly arrived from Orlando. “I thought he looked good,” he said. “I thought he was unlucky with the yellow card. He didn’t even touch Molino. That meant for the rest of the game he had to be cautious and we know a lot of his strengths are his aggressiveness and desire to be competitive. I thought he controlled it in a good way in the second half, so it was a good first game for him.

“We will look at video and help him understand certain things here. But we knew he was going to be up for the challenge because he’s that kind of guy, and he’s going to be a great addition.”