The New York Red Bulls started another three game week on the right foot, pushing past the Columbus Crew in a tight 1-0 victory. Tim Cahill found his third goal of the season, and a strong performance from Luis Robles kept the clean sheet.

FULL HIGHLIGHTS

THE GOOD

Grinding out a third straight road win. It doesn't have to be pretty if it gets you three points. Despite statements early in the week that NY wanted to take the game to Columbus, the Red Bulls found few chances throughout the ninety minutes. But if the defense stands strong, then the offense only needs to make one chance count. That one chance came when Jonny Steele's blast was parried to Tim Cahill, who put a high, looping header into the back of the net with ten minutes left to play. Not the most robust game plan, but good enough to snap the Crew's 12-game unbeaten streak at home and give RBNY a three-game winning streak, their longest since May of last year.

Robles' penalty stop. After nearly giving up the win in Toronto, goalkeeper Luis Robles bounced back well, with six saves in the second half to keep Columbus from lighting up the scoreboard (again). But he was most impressive in stonewalling Federico Higuain's penalty kick: he didn't give an inch on the stutter step, and calmly dove to his right. We're still not sold on him being the top pick for goalkeeper, but credit for a fine performance when it's due.

Tim Cahill. Cahill's game winner brought to mind Thierry Henry—not because of the way it was scored, but because of how his MLS career has gone. Like Henry, Cahill struggled in the first half-year with the team and started his first full season with no production. Like Henry, Cahill faced mounting criticism. And like Henry, it looks like scoring and getting the critics off his back has empowered him to keep scoring. Keep an eye on him: not just for his production, but for his leadership of the team.

THE BAD

Thierry Henry getting shut out of the game. Credit to Columbus' defense: Henry didn't get a single sniff at goal all afternoon. After Henry feasted on the Crew heavily last year—four goals and two assists across two games—Columbus coach Robert Warzycha obviously had to make adjustments.

Juninho. Not a great outing for the "Little King"; he looked gassed and his distribution brought very little to the game. Dax McCarty is greatly missed.

Brandon Barklage. The defense as a whole worked well, but we have to wonder what's going on with Brandon Barklage, who gave up the penalty with a poor tackle in the box. It was Barklage's third bad moment of the season, adding to his red card from Montreal and his own goal versus New England. It won't be a surprise to see Kosuke Kimura getting a look at right back again soon.

LOOKING AHEAD

It's yet another three game week for New York, and they'll return home to face the Montreal Impact in the second meeting of the year. Montreal took the first game of the year between these two sides, and they have generally been dubbed as "for real" this year. With the teams tied on points at the top of the Eastern Conference (but with Montreal holding games in hand), the Red Bulls need to make a statement that they, too, are for real.

The Red Bulls head up I-95 on Saturday to face New England and snap their now decade-long curse.

POST-MATCH REACTIONS

Mike Petke on his win streak: "I mean, three in a row, very, very happy about that. We played against a good team today and I think defensively we did some very good stuff, exactly to our game plan. We knew that Higuain would be the one to punish us, and Arrieta as well, but we didn’t give Higuain enough time on the ball; we didn’t give him the pockets that he’s used to running in to. While it probably was not the most beautiful game to watch at home, I could care less, it’s three points."

Luis Robles on his penalty stop: "I think that part of our strategy as a team is to study our opponent every week and it just so happened that last week [against D.C. United] he did take the penalty. The one thing that helped about it was not necessarily the direction he went, but that he takes a stutter step. If I would have not known that beforehand, then maybe I would have went to early or sold myself too quickly—it just worked out for us."

Tim Cahill on bouncing back from mistakes: "[Luis] Robles is a great goalkeeper, and like I said to him last week, it’s going to happen throughout the year where certain players make mistakes. We’re a team, we get each other out of it, and this week he got Brandon [Barklage] out of it from giving a penalty away—at the end of the day, that’s what a team is all about. That’s what I always say to these guys. It’s not about individuals; it’s about biting the bullet together and that’s what we did today. It was a great save, and then in the end to nick the win like we did, overall it was fantastic. Difficult pitch to play on, very sticky, the wind was awful, with a nice crowd and nice stadium."

Next Match: Wednesday, May 8th 7:30 PM, Home vs Montreal (TV: MSG+)