Thierry Henry, looking healthy and hungry, notched a brace and Jan Gunnar Solli added three assists to lead the Red Bulls to a 4-0 rout at archrival D.C. United at RFK Stadium tonight.
“I told you guys at the beginning of the season, once we start to score, I think we’re going to score a lot,” said Henry. “The most important thing is that we won. We scored three the other day and we scored four today. D.C. United played well I thought. I don’t think they deserved to lose 4-0 today, but we put the ball in the back of the net.”
Midfielder Joel Lindpere and striker Juan Agudelo also recorded goals, with the 18-year-old phenom’s golazo the exclamation point as the Red Bulls vaulted atop the Eastern Conference at 3-1-2 for 11 points.
“I think the first goal we score was good. We have changed the way we play a little bit. We got more players in the box and we know that if we have three or four guys in the box all the time and we get early crosses, then we are dangerous,” said Lindpere. “As [D.C. United] started to play, it was too late for them. I think it was not easy for us, but I think we were more dangerous.”
Coach Hans Backe used the exact same Starting XI that had drilled San Jose 3-0 last Saturday, and it worked.
They jumped ahead in the 12th minute when Dane Richards flicked the ball to an on-rushing Solli, who ran into the attacking third and swung a cross into the box that an open Henry nodded into the back of the net. The French star _ who’d caught heat from the fans before breaking his season-long goal-less streak last Saturday _ doubled New York’s lead seven minutes before the break with the service again coming from the right wing. Richards chipped the ball to Solli, who stiff-armed his defender and slid a deflected cross to the top of the six yard box. A shockingly-unmarked Henry ran a footrace to rifle it in.
“I think it’s a lot with the health issue definitely [making him play better] because if you have some pain, you can’t be as explosive as you want to and you can’t run the way you want to,” Backe said of Henry.
“Today we were very effective and perhaps it sounds a little bit strange, but I would say D.C. is the best team we’ve played against so far. It sounds strange when you win 4-0, but the way [D.C. United] plays, the way they defend, we got them on the breaks, but they played well. We had trouble today…They played really well I must say, I’d like to credit them for the game.”
United sub Branko Boskovic’s free kick hit the crossbar in the 73rd, but with 15 minutes left the Red Bulls iced it. Rafa Marquez started a counterattack, finding Henry at midfield. Henry then slid a through ball to Lindpere, who went in on goal, cut it in with his right foot and put it past young DC goalkeeper Bill Hamid.
“I think I got a chance to score in the last game,” Lindpere said. “I haven’t practiced shooting far corner too much down low and I was thinking if I do it, maybe I’m not good at this and in my mind I thought maybe I should do it the other way. So I took the ball in and just put it in with my right foot. I just need to keep working and practicing.”
Bouna Coundoul preserved the shutout late, making a fingertip save on a 15-yard Boskovic shot with less than five minutes left. And Agudelo put the icing on the cake in second-half stoppage time, spectacularly flicking a Solli pass up in the air and smashing it into the goal netting in his own remake of one of Henry’s more spectacular Arsenal goals. The French star, taking a well-deserved rest on the bench, wore a Cheshire Cat grin.
“Jan Gunnar was more than active on the right hand side. He created a lot for us tonight. Teemu [Tainio] was Teemu. He’s going to fight and give 100 percent,” said Henry. “But overall I think we had to defend well tonight even though [D.C. United] created some chances. They hit the crossbar, they hit the post, and Bouna had a couple of saves, but we didn’t concede a goal and that’s what is important.”
The Red Bulls return home Saturday, April 30 against Sporting Kansas City at 7:30 p.m.