HARRISON, NJ (May 8, 2013) – A spectacular Thierry Henry bicycle kick goal (VIDEO LINK) capped off a two-goal performance from the Red Bulls captain and helped first place New York record their fourth-straight win – a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Impact (5-2-2, 17 pts.) at Red Bull Arena Wednesday night.
FULL MATCH HIGHLIGHTS LINK
With the result, the Red Bulls (6-4-2, 20 pts.) are equal on points atop the Eastern Conference with the Houston Dynamo, which beat D.C. United, 4-0, earlier in the evening.
In a tight first half, Henry had a good opportunity to put the Red Bulls in front in the 18th minute. Jonny Steele had the ball on the left wing and slid it through to the Frenchman, who took a touch and pulled his shot just past the right post.
Three minutes later, Impact midfielder Sanna Nyassi nearly gave the visitors the lead, one-timing an Andres Romero feed off the crossbar. Nyassi then forced Luis Robles to make a save with the Red Bulls goalkeeper coming off his line. Juninho almost had his first goal as a Red Bull in the 42nd minute, putting a free kick inches past the left post.
New York took the lead in the waning moments of the opening interval. Eric Alexander was able to cut to his left foot and blasted it off the underside of the crossbar. Fabian Espindola was first to the rebound and centered it to Henry, who knocked it in from close range for his fourth goal of the season.
The Red Bulls put immediate pressure to begin the second half and Montreal goalkeeper Troy Perkins kept the score at 1-0, blocking an Alexander header off a Heath Pearce cross less than a minute after the break. Then in the 63rd minute, Steele chested down a Henry cross at the top of the box and his on-target rocket was parried by Perkins.
Henry scored the eventual game-winning goal in thrilling fashion in the 88th minute. Juninho’s corner kick was flicked on by Markus Holgersson towards the back post. Henry was there and hit a bicycle kick, connecting with the ball on his right foot and putting it into the back of the net.
Marco Di Vaio scored in the second minute of stoppage time to make it, 2-1, but the Red Bulls were able to hold on to earn the three points.
The Red Bulls return to action Saturday, May 11 when they travel to Gillette Stadium to take on the New England Revolution at 7:30 PM ET (TV: MSG - Pre-Game Show at 7:00 PM). New York begins a three-game homestand on May 19, hosting defending MLS Cup Champion, the LA Galaxy, at 1:00 PM at Red Bull Arena. For tickets, call 1.877.RBSOCCER or log onto www.newyorkredbulls.com.
New York Red Bulls 2, Montreal Impact 1
May 8, 2013 – Red Bull Arena – Harrison, NJ
MLS Regular Season
Scoring Summary:
NY: Thierry Henry 4 (Fabian Espindola 1) 47+
NY: Thierry Henry 5 (Markus Holgersson 1, Juninho 3) 88’
MTL: Marco Di Vaio 5 (Justin Mapp 1) 92’+
Disciplinary Summary:
None
New York Red Bulls (6-4-2, 20 points) – Luis Robles, Kosuke Kimura, Markus Holgersson, Jamison Olave, Heath Pearce, Eric Alexander, Tim Cahill, Juninho, Jonny Steele (Roy Miller 88’), Peguy Luyindula (Fabian Espindola 25’), Thierry Henry (Andre Akpan 91’+)
Substitutes Not Used: Santiago Castano, Connor Lade, Lloyd Sam, Brandon Barklage
Montreal Impact (5-2-2, 17 points) – Troy Perkins, Dennis Iapichino, Hassoun Camara, Matteo Ferrari, Jeb Brovsky, Felipe Martins, Justin Mapp, Andres Romero (Blake Smith 74’), Patrice Bernier, Sanna Nyassi, Andrew Wenger (Marco Di Vaio 66’)
Substitutes Not Used: Evan Bush, Collen Warner, Maxim Tissot, Wandrille Lefevre, Karl Ouimette
Referee: Hilario Grajeda
Referee’s Assistants: Chris Strickland, Bill Dittmar
4th Referee: Alejandro Mariscal
Attendance: 11,89
