Zach Loyd opened the scoring for Dallas 11 minutes into the match at Pizza Hut Park, slotting home from close range following a goalmouth scramble.

In the 61st minute Ricardo Villar doubled the visitors' lead.

Panama forward Blas Perez broke down the right and cut inside, allowing Villar to make an overlapping run.

Perez picked him out with an accurate pass, allowing the Brazilian midfielder to chip the ball past Red Bulls goalkeeper Ryan Meara.

Perez himself then had two good chances to get on the scoresheet.

He should have put Dallas 3-0 up in the 73rd minute when Carlos Rodriguez broke in on goal and cut it back to his team-mate, only for Meara to save the shot from Perez.

Kenny Cooper got one back for New York in the 78th minute, lobbing a shot over Kevin Hartman after being played in by Thierry Henry.

It looked as though the miss from Perez might come back to haunt the hosts, as Cooper launched another shot that had to be palmed over the bar.

The Red Bulls pumped several crosses into the box during the last 10 minutes, but Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman successfully dealt with the danger.

In the other match on Sunday, Houston snatched all three points in their match away to Chivas USA, with Andrew Hainault scoring a 92nd-minute winner for the visitors.