The New York Red Bulls went looking for revenge this past weekend against the San Jose Earthquakes and it could not have come any sweeter. Coach Hans Backe made a surprising roster move when he decided to bench teen superstar Juan Agudelo in favor of newcomer Luke Rodgers. This move certainly paid off on Saturday when Rodgers scored twice and assisted a Thierry Henry goal to help the Red Bulls win 3-0 against the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last year.
Luke Rodgers opened his scoring account for New York early in the 2nd minute, scoring off of a header from a beautiful corner kick from Rafa Marquez. Shortly after, in the 14th minute, Thierry Henry placed a perfect cross into the box at the feet of Rodgers who put it in the back of the net. New York had started the game strong and showed no signs of letting up. The team is arguably the best team on paper and on Saturday they finally displayed that.
New York dominated the field as Thierry Henry played his best game since joining the team. He had been pushed by the fans for the entirety of the night and finally gave them what they had been asking for in the 87th minute. Henry scored off of a diving header from a Luke Rodgers cross into the box. The goal was his first in league play since September 11, 2010.
While the Red Bulls found answers to their problems, San Jose’s continued. San Jose’s attacking force struggled to break New York’s back line. New York’s defense was solid enough that goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul only had to make a total of 2 saves. San Jose forward Chris Wondolowski had the best shot of the night for the ‘Quakes, shooting the ball from eight yards out which ended up finding Coundoul.
With the win, New York jumped to 2nd place in the Eastern Conference, behind rivals Philadelphia Union. While the loss put the Earthquakes in 6th place in the Western Conference.
(image courtesy of Getty Images)
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