He’s still got it. Thierry Henry — who heard his fair share of boos from still-bitter Irish fans among the 18,052 at RFK Stadium — scored twice and assisted on the third to highlight a dominating performance by the New York Red Bulls as they crushed D.C. United, 4-0. It was the worst home loss for United in 11 years, and the first time that they had lost any game by four goals since a home defeat to Chicago during the 2005 MLS Cup playoffs.
“[It’s] a little bit embarrassing, 4-0 at home,” said United head coach Ben Olsen. “It’s a tough night for us. … They’re a good team, and if you make mistakes, they’ve got guys who know how to punish you. Right now, they’re a better team than we are.”
One of those guys was certainly Henry, who scored his fourth and fifth MLS goals since joining the club last summer during two of United’s sloppier defending moments in recent memory. Henry’s first goal came thanks to a perfect delivery from Jan Gunnar Solli — though it didn’t help that D.C.’s Dejan Jakovic left his man on the play, drifting over to mark someone that Perry Kitchen had already claimed. The second goal was an total misadventure in defending, as Burch was eaten up by some dribbling by Richards, and both of United’s centerbacks were completely lost as Henry poached on a loose ball in front of keeper Bill Hamid.
“We need to make some faster decisions. We’re a little slow on our decisions all around, and, me personally, I need to pick up my speed of play, and I need to be cleaner,” said Burch. “I think a lot of our guys are going to feel like they need to do the same.”
“We didn’t do a good enough job on Thierry in the first half — we let him make the game. He had just too much space,” added Olsen.
“He’s smart, he knows how to find gaps and how to make space for himself, and he showed that tonight,” Perry Kitchen noted on his first battle with the legendary Arsenal man. “Great player. Nothing else to say.”
While United’s defense was clearly struggling against the New York attack, the offense’s issues were more to do with luck than anything else. Branko Bošković, who came on during the second half, had no fewer than four anguishing breaks, including hitting the crossbar, hitting the post, a brilliant fingertips save from Red Bulls goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul and a curling effort that missed the goal by about six inches. United’s offensive production was neatly summarized up in the 58th and 59th minute, as a turnover and a poor punch by Coundoul led to nothing but a sloppy dribble directly into traffic and a shot pushed well wide of the mark.
And while Henry earned the lionshare of the headlines for his brace, a pair of other strikers were worth noting. United’s Charlie Davies — who often appeared one step ahead of his midfield all evening — didn’t score for the first time since he returned to the States, while New York’s Juan Agudelo scored on a magnificent volley during stoppage time to cap the rout.
“The final ball wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t good enough,” said Davies. “Once you go down 2-0 to a team like that, it’s pretty tough to try and get back into the game.”
Davies’ goalless night led him to a conclusion echoed around the United locker room after the game. “Strikers not going to score every game. You just gotta move on.”
