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Thierry Henry Makes An Impact In 5-2 Win Over Montreal

Dan Dickinson

Published Apr 1, 2012

Modified Apr 1, 2012

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Dan Dickinson

Published Apr 1, 2012

Modified Apr 1, 2012

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It was a tale of two halves on Saturday afternoon, as 2012 expansion side Montreal Impact traveled to Harrison to face the New York Red Bulls. Lackluster effort in the first half threatened to turn the game into a nightmare. But a dominant second half, as well as a Thierry Henry hat trick, gave the Red Bulls a dream-like comeback finish of 5-2 for their second win of the season.

Not wanting to mess with the chemistry that brought on the 4-1 thrashing of Colorado, coach Hans Backe fielded the same starting XI for a second straight game. But Montreal's crisp passing and speedy striker Sanna Nyassi repeatedly tore up New York's back line, preventing the home side from building an attack. A terrible clearance attempt by Markus Holgersson gave Nyassi a one-on-one opportunity on goal and easily put it past Ryan Meara. Rafa Marquez connect to Thierry Henry for his first ten minutes later to level the game. Montreal again jumped in front with a low driving shot from Justin Mapp that beat Ryan Meara near-post, and New York again leveled after Kenny Cooper converted a penalty kick drawn by Dax McCarty.

Lucky to be even 2-2, the Red Bulls re-emerged from the locker room practically a different team. Rafa Marquez was subbed off due to a groin injury, and Teemu Tainio's entrance helped shift the formation to provide more service to the strikers. Not long into the half, Dax McCarty laid off a pass to Henry at the top of the box, who spun and threaded a shot between two defenders and past goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts.

Montreal's chances of battling back were dampened in the 72nd minute. Jan Gunnar Solli made a run up the flank, deftly avoided a lazy tackle from a Montreal defender, and brought the ball into the box. A low cross was delivered to Thierry Henry, who gave it a cheeky flick on to Mehdi Ballouchy, who buried his shot for RBNY's fourth goal. Ballouchy celebrated his first goal of the season by doing his best impersonation of the South Ward's "Wipeout" dance.

A 4-2 scoreline would've been enough to cruise to a victory. But when Donovan Ricketts could only deflect Kenny Cooper's shot, Thierry Henry raced in and notched an easy goal to complete his hat trick. It was Henry's first hat trick since joining MLS in 2010, and NY's first in over five years.

The win gives New York a 2-2-0 record, good for second place in the Eastern Conference.

POST-MATCH REACTIONS

Striker Thierry Henry on scoring: "I couldn't care less about scoring goals or not - obviously it's a lot better when you do. I just want to win...I didn't think I was even going to score one goal today...It was a great team effort in the second half, not only one guy or two or three, I think, like I've been saying to you since the beginning, we need to play well as a team. We did today in the second half, not in the first one."

Midfielder Dax McCarty, on Thierry Henry's form: "He's fitter than I've ever seen him. The guy is an animal. He's literally as close to unstoppable as it comes in this league, especially the way he's playing now. When you see how motivated he is, especially I think now that he realizes how difficult this league is, I think he's taken it to a whole another level...it seems like every time he shoots the ball, it goes in."

Coach Hans Backe on the game as a whole: "It was a strange first half. There were a lot of mistakes, so there's not too much to say about the first half. We were quite lucky to have a tie after the first 45 minutes. We came out very strong in the second half, the players responded very well, controlled the game, and dictated in a good way. It was a huge difference."

Goalkeeper Ryan Meara, on the demeanor at halftime: "We're all such competitors...no one likes to not play well, that's what it comes down to. The way we responded, I think we can build on that."

Striker Kenny Cooper on the fan's involvement in the second half: "I thought the team showed incredible energy, it was great attacking towards our fans behind that goal and you know, for these first two home games our fans have brought a great atmosphere and great energy and us, as players we can really feed off that."

Midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy on his goal: "I saw [Thierry] kind of make a run near post, and I knew he was going to just flick it, and by the time he flicked it I read the play, and got into that space and was able to make it."

Next Match: April 7th, 3PM at Columbus (TV: MSG)

Tagged

mls

montreal impact

rbny

red bulls

soccer

thierry henry

Dan Dickinson

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