Thierry Henry and his New York Red bulls team defeated Man City today in the Barclays New York Challenge by a scoreline of 2-1 today.

Big spending Man City were matched by their MLS opponents for the full 90 minutes and fell to an absolute cracker of a goal scored by right winger Dane Richards. The loss was City’s second in a row, having fallen to Sporting Lisbon earlier in the week 2-0. There is no doubt that Roberto Mancini will be unhappy with how the loss went down, considering the fact they missed a wide open goal right before the Red Bulls got their second goal.

Even though it is a preseason game, it shows just how much MLS teams are progressing. Beating a team like Man City – even without many of their top stars – is a great testament to the direction of the league and the fact that the American league is producing teams that can battle it out with the best teams in Europe. And when players like Thierry Henry hold a desire to play here, you know that the organization and structure  is set up to attract the best players and continue to grow.

I must also say that I am pumped to see how the partnership between Henry and Juan Pablo Angel formulates. If they get it going, it will be potentially the deadliest strike force ever seen in MLS!

Image via: AP Photo/Mel Evans