newjerseynewsroom.com

BY KYLE FRANKO

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

HARRISON — The wait is over.

It took five games, but Thierry Henry finally has his first career Major League Soccer goal.

"It has been coming for a couple games," said Henry who scored the second goal of the New York Red Bulls' 2-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes Saturday night at Red Bull Arena. "It was very important to get that second goal whether I scored it or someone else. I did score it and it was a great feeling because everybody was waiting for the goal. The fans were waiting, I was waiting and was very important to get that second goal."

The French striker controlled Dane Richards' cross in the 63rd minute and calmly slotted his shot past San Jose goalkeeper Jon Busch.

With the victory, the Red Bulls (11-7-4, 37 points) pulled within four points of Columbus for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. The Crew (12-5-5, 41 points) drew with FC Dallas 0-0 Thursday afternoon.

The top two teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs automatically, while the remaining four wildcard spots are given to the clubs with the most points regardless of conference.

The Red Bulls are also starting to gel with Henry looking the most active since his arrival and Rafa Marquez working the full 90 minutes in central midfield.

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"We're definitely building something up here," said New York captain Juan Pablo Angel. "We have to take one game at a time. We feel that the team is finally getting stronger, getting more confident, but we have to get into the playoffs first. Once you get there anything can happen and once we get there I'm sure we're going to have players in better form."

New York took the lead in first half stoppage time after the impressive Richards gathered a loose ball and snaked his way through the San Jose defense before rounding Busch to give the Red Bulls the lead.

The Red Bulls should have doubled their advantage five minutes after halftime. Henry redirected a Roy Miller cross on frame and all Busch could do was push it straight into the path of Angel, but the striker hit the post with his shot.

San Jose's (8-7-5, 29 points) best chance came five minutes into the game, with Bouna Condoul doing well to beat away Arturo Alvarez's powerful drive and then denying Chris Wondolowski's follow up effort.

New York dominated from that point forward with Henry hitting the post at 21 minutes and then having his shot palmed over the bar by Busch in the 53rd.

But the former Barcelona man got his goal 10 minutes later bringing the crowd of 21,859 to its feet.

"I think this was one of the best [performances]," Henry said. "We had a couple chances at the beginning of the game that we had some trouble with. But I thought the way we passed the ball and played was very good tonight."