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Red Bulls win 4-1, hand Toronto FC 1st home loss

Aug 21, 2010 - 9:49 PM TORONTO (AP) -- Newly acquired Rafael Marquez scored his first goal for the Red Bulls and New York won 4-1 on Saturday to hand Toronto FC 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.

"We're not out of it yet, but obviously we created more of a gap with New York right now, eight points away from us," Toronto captain Dwayne De Rosario said. "But it's not something to be too worried about right now, but a little concerned, yes."

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 and applauded the crowd as he walked off the field.

"The fans are great, I knew from some of the guys who had played in Toronto told me that they had some great fans, and today they were really cheering," Henry said.

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 goalie 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.

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.

"I thought we had plenty of chances," Toronto coach Preki Radosavljevic said. "They made their plays we didn't make our plays, that's how the game goes sometimes, it's cruel sometimes."

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.