The New York Red Bulls suffered a bit of a scare in the early going against the Montreal Impact, but they calmed down and Thierry Henry ended up firing them to an emphatic 5-2 win. The match started in entertaining fashion, with Sanna Nyassi striking early for the visitors before Thierry Henry and Rafael Marquez combined to bring the Red Bulls level, the former swinging in a peach of a cross that allowed Henry to slip between a pair of Impact defenders to nod past Donovan Ricketts.
New York Red Bulls Vs. Montreal Impact, 2012 MLS: Final Score 5-2 Red Bulls At Henry Notches Hattrick
The Impact went back ahead ten minutes later - a poor long-range effort from Justin Mapp was inexplicably allowed to go in by Ryan Meara, but the Red Bulls managed to get to halftime level after Matteo Ferrari chopped down* Dax McCarty in the penalty area and Kenny Cooper was able to convert the spot kick.
*Yes, it was 100% a penalty.
The hosts stepped it up after the interval, and Henry put them ahead with a superb goal 56 minutes in. The former Arsenal man turned his defender brilliantly and laid in a precise effort into the botton corner to give the Red Bulls a 3-2 lead, and Henry helped make it four with a lovely flick to Mehdi Ballouchy 72 minutes in. From then on, the home side was in total control, and the Impact could do very little to get back into the match.
Henry got his hattrick as the clock ticked down, scooping a rebound over Rickets for his team’s fifth, but by then the three points were a formality. A 5-2 win, even against an expansion side, is a pretty impressive result - the Red Bulls will be hoping that they have more halves like the second and fewer like the first, however.
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