Thierry Henry scored his first goal of the season and to break a tie in the 81st minute and the Red Bulls gave coach Mike Petke his first win as their head coach, beating the Philadelphia Union 2-1 yesterday at Red Bull Arena.
“We needed to win,” said Henry, who netted his first goal of the season. “We tried to knock on the door and score a goal. Dax [McCarty] scored a great goal. To get three points from a team in our division was important.”
Henry finished a beautiful feed from Peguy Luyindula to win it for the Red Bulls (1-2-2). Heath Pearce started the winning play when he sent a pass forward for Luyindula, who controlled the ball at the top corner of the penalty area before chipping a pass into the middle. Henry softened the ball with his right knee before sending a left-footed shot into the goal from 10 yards.
Dax McCarty’s goal in the 55th minute snapped a scoreless string of 307 minutes for the Red Bulls and staked them to a 1-0 lead. Philadelphia (2-2-0) tied it in the 63rd minute when Casey Conor headed in a throw-in by Sheanon Williams that beat goalkeeper Luis Robles at the near post.
Juninho started the play that led to McCarty’s goal with a corner kick. The ball bounced back to the Red Bulls’ midfielder, who pushed the ball to Jonathan Steele. Steele knocked the ball into the middle of the box, where McCarty ran toward it and redirected it behind him with his right foot.