On the strength of a Dax McCarty early 2nd half goal, and a Thierry Henry late 2nd half golazo, the New York Red Bulls once again put the Philadelphia Union to the sword @The Cathedral of Football.
A scoreless first half, full of ridiculous missed chances (Peguy, I'm looking at you), was forgotten rather quickly, as the Red Bulls took the lead through their dimunitive redheaded midfield maestro. Several other missed opportunities later and the Union took advantage. Connor Casey, who's been having field days against the Red Bulls for years now, headed in a goal in 63rd minute and the Red Bulls were set to drop more points. Unfortunately for the Union, 60th minute super-sub DP Thierry Henry (who came in for a fatigued & injured Tim Cahill) had other plans.
The legendary Frenchman, not yet fully recovered from an MCL Sprain, willed the Red Bulls to victory with one of his trademark magic strikes. Henry took a low Peguy Luyindula cross with his right thigh and struck a left footed volley just inside the right goal post. A fantastic goal (justly nominated for MLS Goal of The Week) that has the punters debating if it could be his RBNY career best ever strike. The Red Bulls held on and three massive points were ours. Another hapless outing for the Union @The Cathedral of Football (not that I'm complaining). Sorry SOB's, but: Rivalry? What Rivalry? Ha, ha!
Please click on the video top for half-time comments and video from my field seats experience. Please click here for my photo album (slide show here). Please click here for a nice set, courtesy of Matt Kremkau (slide show here) and click here for a massive set from Soccer Long Island Magazine (slide show here).
I wasn't able to partake in the South Ward fun this game, as I won an hMAG contest and had seats right on the field. From this great vantage point, I was able to see several unbelievable RBNY missed chances close up, as well as several bad calls by the linesman that was on my side. One of these involved Markus Holgersson kicking the ball out of bounds, off a Philadelphia player. The lino called for a Union throw-in, which directly led to Connor Casey's goal.
Anyway, the good people at hMAG were even able to get my kid (and his friend) to walk out with the team and partake in the National Anthem ceremony. Needless to day, the lad was chuffed and over the moon. Make sure to follow hMag on Twitter for your chance to win.
That's it for me! I hope to see you all next time @The Cathedral of Football, Red Bull Arena (built by Makita). The big viper is outtahere!
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