BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Despite five designated players taking to the pitch and the anticipation heading into the Chicago Fire's home match against the New York Red Bulls, both talented squads lacked the offensive gusto on Sunday.

In the end, it was Fire rookie goalkeeper Sean Johnson earning the spotlight with seven saves as the Fire and Red Bulls played to a scoreless draw in front of the largest crowd (21,868) in Toyota Park history.

The Red Bulls began to penetrate the defense in the second half, but Johnson was up to the task.

"I think we played our style pretty much 70 minutes throughout the match," Johnson said. "I think the last 20 minutes or so they were attacking us pretty strong and I think us sitting in, we were very organized. I didn't have a problem. I think defensively we were strong throughout the 90 minutes."

The hype heading into the match focused on both teams' slew of designated players. Four of the five available designated players started the match, with New York's forward tandem of Juan Pablo Angel and Thierry Henry and defender Rafael Marquez taking the pitch, and Chicago midfielder Freddie Ljungberg making his first Fire start. Fire forward Nery Castillo opened the match on the bench, but he made his debut in the 56th minute, entering the match for target forward Brian McBride.

Henry could not make it through the first half, however. Just before halftime, Dane Richards was brought into the match for Henry, who left with a groin strain.

Making his second straight MLS start, Johnson came up with some big moments to keep New York off the scoreboard, and a brunt of his clutch performance came at the tail end of the match. In the closing minute or two, Johnson batted a Tim Ream shot over the crossbar. Then, Chris Albright's attempt was bound for the far right post, but Johnson was alert and pushed the ball away to his left.

That was only a snippet of Johnson's performance. He turned away Henry's strike in the 21st minute after Henry darted past Fire defenders Wilman Conde and C.J. Brown. Johnson also had a 68th-minute save against Angel, lunging to his right to force a New York corner kick.

Johnson continues to solidify his stance as the team's new No. 1 goalkeeper, and Fire head coach Carlos de los Cobos is running with the clear-cut option.

"For now, Sean deserves to continue playing," De los Cobos said. "He [has played] two very good matches. He's making very good work in these two games. I think it's necessary to support the moment. He's a very young player. He will have mistakes, which is normal. But the most important thing is we can see a very good player for the future."

Chicago's offensive chances were sporadic. One of the Fire's best opportunities came in the 43rd minute, when Logan Pause started the attack and fed to McBride running down the right side. Just as New York's defense caught up to him, McBride dealt a cross just behind the Red Bulls' back line to Ljungberg. But Ljungberg could not get much of the ball as he kicked it wide left.

"Unfortunately it came with pace and it bounced straight up to my shin," Ljungberg said. "If I had better technique on my shin, maybe I would have scored. It was a pity, but that's how it was. It would have been nice."

The Fire did not put a shot on goal until the 51st minute, when Marco Pappa's strike forced Red Bulls goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul to make a diving save to his left. New York outshot Chicago, 22-5, and held a 7-1 shots-on-goal advantage.

New York looked like the team in control to start the second half. Macoumba Kandji had some good chances and the Fire's back line looked out of sync. But the Red Bulls could not put a dent on the scoreboard.

Analysis: The tone of the match was quite unexpected considering the talent on both sides of the ball, but that only opened the door for Johnson to continue adding to his young career and season.

Ljungberg brought some good energy to the match, especially early on. But offensively the team could not break through with its final touches. One player who had some indecisive or incorrect moments in the final third was midfielder Marco Pappa, who in the 18th minute selfishly tried to loft the ball to the goal instead of pass to a wide-open Pause, and in the 81st took a half shot/cross, where Steve Kinney was open on the far left post.

Pause had one of his better matches this season, with some key marking and some good decisions with the ball. In the 87th minute, he also came up with a clutch block against Salou Ibrahim.

Midfielder Patrick Nyarko was not available Sunday because of concussion symptoms. He played for a portion of Chicago's previous match against the Los Angeles Galaxy, but suffered the injury during training this past week.

"I missed Patrick tonight because everybody knows this player is a very fast player," De los Cobos said. "It's a shame because he's a player that always offers many possibilities."

Forward Collins John did not play Sunday, and De los Cobos sat him because of his lack of performance in training.

"Coaches demand to the players that they give 100 percent," he said. "Collins didn't show us anything in practice or give us anything. We need him. He has big qualities."