Tim Cahill scored twice, including a header in the 89th minute, to give the New York Red Bulls a 2-1 victory over Toronto FC on Saturday.
Cahill's tiebreaking goal came off a cross by Thierry Henry and gave New York (4-4-2) its second straight win and third in its past four matches.
Jonathan Osorio had the tying goal for Toronto (1-3-4) in the 83rd minute. Ryan Richter played the ball back to Osorio, who paused to tee up a high shot that sailed over New York goalkeeper Luis Robles and glanced off the crossbar and in the net.
''It's not a jinx, it's not a hoax or anything like that, we need personalities to go and clear the ball, and win the ball ... strong personalities who want it in the back,'' Toronto FC coach Ryan Nelsen said. ''Every successful team in the world has one or two defenders that the ball seems to be like a magnet to their head because they want it so much.''
Toronto came in off four straight draws in MLS play, including three in which it gave up a lead in injury time. However, Toronto beat Montreal 2-0 on Wednesday in the Canadian Championship series.
Cahill had given the Red Bulls a 1-0 lead in the 39th minute in a goal also set up by Henry. The former French star had a beautiful dummy on a pass from Roy Miller, letting the ball roll onto an open Cahill, who slotted it from the center of the box past Toronto goalkeeper Joe Bendik.
Toronto had a couple of scoring chances, the first coming off a long shot from Robert Earnshaw that sailed high of the net. Reggie Lambe launched a long shot over the bar in the 59th.
Earnshaw had an excellent chance in the 70th, but fired a shot from close in right to Robles.
''It was a disappointing performance from the first minute to the 90th,'' Nelsen said. ''It was really a shame because the guys had been doing well, we were moving forward.
Asked how much of the responsibility is his, the coach said, ''I take all of it. Total responsibility. I'll never accuse players of anything, they're trying their hardest, I feel really bad for them. The responsibility lies with me.''
