The streak continues: the New York Red Bulls earned their fourth straight win Wednesday, a 2-1 home victory over the Montreal Impact. Thierry Henry's two goals, including an unreal bicycle kick in the closing minutes, were the difference maker, although Montreal almost pulled out a miracle of their own at the finish.

FULL HIGHLIGHTS

THE GOOD

Thierry Henry.

While we won't go as far as Shep Messing's commentary—never mind the world, MLS has seen more astonishing goals this decade—Henry's 88th minute game winner was undeniably magical. Markus Holgersson's attempt to flick-on the header wasn't particularly elegant or graceful, but Henry, as he's done so many times in a New York jersey, creates something out of nothing, blasting a bicycle kick across the goal.

It wasn't Henry's only goal of the night—his opener in first half stoppage gave the Red Bulls a deserved lead. But for a goal that was both beautiful and critical to breaking the tie atop the East with Montreal, it's one for the highlight reels.

A big "six point" win. The Red Bulls entered the game in a four-way tie on points with Montreal, Houston, and Kansas City. With NY having played more than anyone else, maximizing points against their close competition will be key to staying on top of the table. The night also brought a Sporting KC loss at home, so both Montreal and SKC fall slightly behind on points. The Dynamo's 4-0 thrashing of DC United leaves them neck and neck with New York. (Since some fans have complained that "top of the table" is meaningless given the discrepancy in games, let us note that RBNY is 3rd in the East and 5th overall in PPG.)

THE BAD

Luis Robles gifting Montreal a goal. Another game where New York's goalkeeper leaves us unsure about Robles as a long term starter. His 90 minutes of solid, calm play is hard to remember when a late errant pass went directly to Montreal's Justin Mapp. Mapp slotted it back to frequently offside striker Marco Di Vaio, who calmly scored, marring Robles' night.

An injury throwing a wrench. A busy three-game week requires careful roster management, so Peguy Luyindula starting over Fabian Espindola wasn't a surprise. But when Peguy went down with a hamstring strain early, Espindola was forced into the match early. With Peguy injured, Espindola tired, and Henry unlikely for the turf Saturday, lots of question marks remain to close out the week.

THE UGLY

The final minute. Montreal could smell blood after Di Vaio's goal, and threw everything forward to try and salvage the game. Di Vaio looked to be in again, and a shot that pinged off all three parts of the goal frame could have been an epic disaster for the Red Bulls—but the offside flag went off, killing the play. The final whistle mercifully came soon after.

Attendance. Yes, Wednesday night games are hard. Yes, it had been pouring all day. Yes, New Jersey. But with the team playing this well over the last month, the announced attendance of 11,892 was just sad. It was thankfully NY's last weekday home match of the season: from here on out, it's weekends only. (And credit to the fans who were there for a huge roaring ovation when Henry subbed off late.)

LOOKING AHEAD

Now running perfect over their last four, including two games already this week, New York faces the biggest psychological test of the week: a trip to Foxboro to face the New England Revolution. By all logic, the 2-4-3 Revs shouldn't be a challenge—this is the same team New York thrashed 4-1 just two weeks ago to start this win streak. But New York's history against their northern rivals is comical, with their last win coming over a decade ago on June 29th, 2002. This will be their 20th try to correct history, and while we wouldn't be surprised if they falter on New England's notoriously poor synthetic field, there's no better time to strike while the iron is hot.

POST-MATCH REACTIONS

Coach Mike Petke on the match: "I don’t have much to say, to be honest with you. Four in a row, five out of six, I’m never satisfied...you know, I come off at halftime, I’ve told you guys many times, thinking that it was dreadful and then I have my assistant coach saying it wasn’t that bad actually. You know there were some very good moments so I loosened up in the second half. I think when we possessed the ball, when we had a purpose going forward, when we had options off ball movement I think we showed how dangerous we could be. Naturally when you go up a goal you get pinned in. There a very good team, a lot of quality, but I think we defended again for about six games now strongly and they did their job."

Midfielder Tim Cahill on the team's form: "Like I said from the start, we have to take it one game at a time. It’s fantastic for confidence and for the club and the fans and all of us together. But if we lose tonight we put ourselves in a bit of trouble because they go away with a few games in hand, Houston win tonight…The only element for us is if we don’t concede we’re going to win games, so we need to defend first and concentrate on what we’re good at; keep things simple. They’ve got some good players but they didn’t really hurt us until Di Vaio came on. We seemed to keep good shape and if we stick to our game plan most games then hopefully after the effort that we put in, it comes out good."

Defender Markus Holgersson on Thierry Henry: "Before I came here, I was impressed with his speed, and taking around and putting the ball in the corner on the side of the goalkeeper. Now, when I'm here, I don't want to say I'm surprised, but how good he is to understand the game. That's his key to opening up so much space for us."

Thierry Henry on whether he can sit back and enjoy his goal: "I will hopefully have the time to enjoy all of the goals I score at the end of my career, but not now. That's what I have in my mind right now, the way we finished the game. I know they had the ball, a lot of the ball in the second half. But we were not in any type of danger really. I know they were passing the ball well, you have to give them their credit. But it didn't look like we were going to concede, and suddenly in one minute, it looked like we were about to concede two goals. Having said that, don't get me wrong, we're having a good run. I thought we defended well as a team in the second half. But that's the type of thing I go home with in my head: we should do better as a team, especially when you're two-nil up and three minutes to go into a game."

Next Match: Saturday, May 11th 7:30 PM, away at New England (TV: MSG)