Newly acquired Rafael Marquez earned his first goal in a Red Bulls jersey to lead New York to a 4-1 win over Toronto FC on Saturday and hand Toronto its first home loss this season.
Juan Pablo Angel connected on a penalty shot, former Toronto FC midfielder Carl Robinson scored for the visitors, and Toronto coughed up an own goal by Joseph Nane in a loss that dealt a blow to a team looking for its first Major League Soccer playoff berth.
Toronto entered the game at BMO Field third in the Eastern Conference standings behind second-place New York and hoping to make up some ground on the visitors before a stadium record crowd of 22,108 fans.
The game marked French star Thierry Henry's first trip to BMO Field
Booed from his first touch of the ball, the former Barcelona and Arsenal player whose hand ball cost Ireland a spot in the World Cup had an excellent scoring chance in the 57th minute. But he misfired from about 10 yards out sending the ball over the net.
Henry, still not at full fitness after joining the team midway through the season, was subbed off in the 68th minute.
Marquez put New York on the scoreboard in the 36th minute. The captain for Mexico at this summer's World Cup and former Barcelona defender took a pass from Tony Tchani at the top of the 18-yard box and fired a shot past Toronto keeper Stefan Frei.
New York's second goal of the afternoon came in the 41st minute when Nane toed the ball past Frei in an attempt to clear a free kick from Marquez.
Dwayne De Rosario brought Toronto's fans back to life, scoring in the 49th minute. With Red Bulls defender Carlos Mendes draped over his left shoulder, De Rosario ran onto a pass from O'Brian White, stretching to angle a shot from the right side of the 6-yard box past New York goalie Bouna Coundoul.
The Red Bulls' third goal resulted from another Toronto blunder. A hand ball by Nana Attakora in Toronto's box earned the defender a red card and resulted in Angel's penalty shot in the 61st minute.
Robinson added a header off a free kick in the 78th minute.
Toronto was coming off a 2-1 victory in the opening group stage game of the CONCACAF Champions League on Tuesday, but was missing midfielder Julian de Guzman, who was serving a one-game suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in Toronto's 1-0 loss to the Red Bulls in New York last week.
Forward Chad Barrett has been nursing a hamstring, but made an appearance in the 64th minute.
