A fantastic day and a fantastic victory! On the day we remembered the victims of that tragic day, 9 years ago, Hans Backe's Viking Army didn't dissapoint. This victory, with its three fantastic goals, gave RBNY three vital points, before a very tough two game road trip. Let's see what happens, because the Eastern Conference leading Columbus Crew lost on Saturday and are only 4 points ahead of the good guys.
The first RBNY goal, a magic strike scored by TH14, was (dare I say it) Arsenal-like football. Rafa Marquez played a brilliant ball from the back to Henry, who then put a cheeky back-heel to Joel Lindpere. A nice give-and go later (featuring another cheeky back-heel from Lindpere) and the legendary Frenchman was in on goal - and in. Golazo! Mr. Wenger would have been very pleased!
The playoff bound Red Bulls might be about to peak at the right time. Everything seems to be coming together and Mr. Backe seems to have finally found the optimal line-up. When you add the fact that Thierry Henry is finally at 100% fitness, RBNY is really starting to look like an MLS Cup contender. Ok, so I might be getting a bit too excited but, then again, I might just have to start looking into flights/accommodations for a November weekend in Toronto. Ha, ha!
We got a bit of a scare when, midway through the second half, Rapids hack Wells Thompson got stuck in on Rafa Maquez. Rafa left the game limping but, apparently, it's not as bad as it looked. A big congratulations to Timmy Ream, who scored his first career MLS Goal. And Dano! Another brilliant goal and he's declared The Cathedral of Football a fear factory for visiting teams. He's reborn and hungry!
Please see the above video for our usual pre-game drunken comments. You can click here for goal celebrations, half-time comments and abbreviated post-game comments.
I had a fantastic time sitting with the Arsenal America folks in section 221. It was my first time in an upper deck section and, let me tell you, there really isn't a bad seat @The Cathedral of Football. After the game, we attended the Thierry Henry Q & A Event organized by the NYC Arsenal Supporters.
We got to see the first half of the so-called Battle Del Toro before Henry came out. The Red Bulls U16 took the lead in the 5th minute through this penalty. At the half, the great TH14 walked out to a great ovation. You can click here for Part I of the Q & A, and click here for Part II.
Afterwards, I was lucky enough to take some close-up pics and shake the "Hand of Gaul". Thanks Thierry! TH14 even signed stuff for NYC Arsenal Supporters who took the PATH train back into Manhattan. Here's a write-up of the event, with lots of pictures, from the Official Arsenal site. And here's a write-up of the event from ESPN.
That's all for now! Kudos, as always, to the ESC and GSS for an extra great show. You can click here for my photo album, or click here for the slide show. And here's the Official Photo Album from Red Bulls Official on facebook. The big viper is outta here!
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