HARRISON, N.J. – Thierry Henry’s second-half tally, an own goal, plus a penalty kick save by goalkeeper Greg Sutton helped give New York a 2-1 victory over New England on Friday night at Red Bull Arena.
The Red Bulls used the momentum from Sutton’s huge PK save on Shalrie Joseph to thrust forward and to open the scoring in the 37th minute via an own goal from Ryan Cochrane. However, it would be Henry’s 50th-minute goal that would prove the winner when the Revs’ Zak Boggs pulled one back four minutes later.
It was a strong first half by New York, who repeatedly squandered their chances to take a commanding lead. Luke Rodgers in particular struggled to put the ball on frame, sending his attempts wide despite having four good looks on goal.
New England, while certainly defensive, had some chances to get on the scoreboard early in the match, including a 17th minute shot by Rajko Lekic from just yards out that somehow rolled across the mouth of the goal but failed to go in.
The best shot of the first half for the Revolution, however, came from the penalty area.
For the fourth time in five games, the Red Bulls conceded a penalty kick when, in the 33rd minute, defender Stephen Keel got tangled with Lekic in the penalty area. Feinting to his right, Sutton fully-extended to his left and saved Joseph’s attempt from the spot.
The miss would prove costly for the visitors, as just minutes later, Cochrane would mistakenly sink the ball into his team’s net.
In the 37th minute and with New England still reeling from Joseph’s penalty kick miss, Rodgers found the ball about 35 yards from goal. With time and space, he put Henry alone on goal with a through ball. Henry then centered a pass towards Austin da Luz, but it met by Cochrane, who inadvertently poked into goal.
New York’s winner in the 50th minute again featured Henry and Cochrane. The French star controlled a pass on the left flank and took advantage of Cochrane’s backpedaling, driving his way into the penalty area. With the Revolution defenders on his heels, Henry cut the ball back, catching Cochrane flat-footed, and fired a shot past Revs goalie Matt Reis and into the net.
It was a goal that they needed, as the Revolution finally found some offense in the 54th minute. Taking the ball down the left wing, Chris Tierney, who was active all night for New England, took advantage of some loose marking from Jan Gunnar Solli to serve a quality ball into the box. The cross, which evaded the head of Roy Miller, fell perfectly onto the right foot of Zak Boggs, who one-timed a shot past a diving Sutton.
The Revolution had chances to equalize, but just couldn’t guide the ball home. First, in the 72nd minute, a poor Solli backpass was intercepted Sainey Nyassi. The forward, in alone on the Red Bulls goal, inexplicably sent his shot well wide right of the target.
Three minutes before stoppage, Lekic scored what he thought was the tying goal, but he was deemed offside and the tally was called off.
With the loss, the Revolution drop to 3-7-4 on the season. The victory kept New York in second place in the Eastern Conference with a 5-2-7 mark and gave the Red Bulls their first win since Apr. 30.
The Red Bulls will hope to continue their winning touch next Saturday, when they make their first ever trip to Portland to battle the Timbers. The Revs will look to rebound with a home game this Wednesday against Toronto FC.
Scoring Summary:
NY -- own goal (Ryan Cochrane) 37
NY -- Thierry Henry 7 (Stephen Keel 1) 50
NE -- Zak Boggs 1 (Chris Tierney 1, Didier Domi 1) 54
Misconduct Summary:
NY -- Stephen Keel (caution; Reckless Foul) 33
NY -- Mehdi Ballouchy (caution; Reckless Foul) 57
Lineups:
New England Revolution -- Matt Reis, Kevin Alston, Ryan Cochrane, A.J. Soares, Didier Domi, Zak Boggs (Sainey Nyassi 85), Pat Phelan (Kenny Mansally 56), Shalrie Joseph, Ousmane Dabo (Stephen McCarthy 20), Chris Tierney, Rajko Lekic.
Substitutes Not Used: Darrius Barnes, Franco Coria, Kheli Dube, Bobby Shuttleworth.
New York Red Bulls -- Greg Sutton, Jan Gunnar Solli, Carlos Mendes, Stephen Keel, Roy Miller, Mehdi Ballouchy, Teemu Tainio, Joel Lindpere, Austin Da Luz (John Rooney 84), Luke Rodgers (Corey Hertzog 65), Thierry Henry.
Substitutes Not Used: Sacir Hot, Matt Kassel, Tyler Lassiter, Teddy Schneider, Bouna Coundoul.
Referee: Terry Vaughn
Referee's Assistants: -Fabio Tovar; Ian Anderson
4th Official: Juan Guzman
Weather: Partly Cloudy and 80 degrees
Attendance: 21,201
