Deja vu! When the Red Bulls startde the 2013 season with a four match winless streak, it took a 2-1 win against the Philadelphia Union at home to notch their first win. That same situation held true in 2014, as the Red Bulls found their first win of the season Wednesday night with a 2-1 victory over the Union. Goals from Thierry Henry and Lloyd Sam were enough to overcome the now traditional penalty kick that New York gives up nearly every game, snapping a six game winless streak.

FULL HIGHLIGHTS

MATCH NOTES

The first half was basically a wash. Coach Mike Petke described it as "like a street game", and that was accurate. A lot of sloppy turnovers, a lot of end-to-end play, and nothing resembling quality finishing defined the first 45 minutes. Entertaining, sure, but neither side felt in control at the halftime interval.

Never leave Thierry Henry unmarked. Philadelphia's defenders should know by now: if you give Henry some space, he'll make you pay. But instead, they opted to ball watch and overcommit on overlapping play from Roy Miller and Eric Alexander. When Miller's pass found Henry in the box, he had six yards of free space around him in all directions. Henry's quick blast to the far post gave New York the lead in the 57th minute.

Lloyd Sam did his best Tim Cahill impersonation. Ten minutes later, the Red Bulls would find their second. Eric Alexander would loft a cross in the box and Tim Cahill, who had subbed on minutes earlier to mark his return from injury, went up for one of his trademark headers. But so did Lloyd Sam, and somehow Sam beat Cahill to the ball, snapping a header into the top right corner. Cahill didn't mind having his team mate notched the goal, and proceeded to tackle him to the ground in full celebration as New York held their first multi-goal lead of the season.

Eric Alexander thrived in an unfamiliar position. While Alexander has generally played central midfield throughout his career, there was an effort last year to move him out wide right. Against the Union, coach Petke decided to gamble with moving him out to the left. It paid off: his two assists and strong passing helped to shake off some of the criticism he had received from fans and media alike this year.

A red card, and another penalty. It was bound to happen, we suppose: the usual late scramble in the Red Bulls defense. Some sort of dumb play - in this case, an Ibrahim Sekagya handball on a Philadelphia shot. A fourth penalty conceded on the year, and in this case, a red card for denial of a goal scoring opportunity. Sebastian Le Toux, who played for New York briefly in 2012, stepped to the spot and converted the penalty, putting it just under Luis Robles. It gave the Union signs of life, but not enough to spur them on to a second goal.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Red Bulls get another Wednesday home game next week, this time hosting the Houston Dynamo. While the Red Bulls battered the Dynamo during the regular season in 2013 (2-0, 3-0, and 4-1 results), they also suffered a painful home loss to Houston that ended their playoff run. The Red Bulls will be looking for revenge, and with Houston having dropped their last three matches, might be in a good position to find it.

POST-MATCH REACTIONS

Mike Petke on a strong second half performance: "I told them before the game if they want me to put up '2-0 Philly' before the whistle starts, before the ref starts the game, I'd do that. But you're right, it does seem like they need to be down, or the game needs to be in the second half before them to come alive. I thought tonight, from the opening whistle, we put pressure on them and I think that we ran a lot. Like I said, it looked like a street soccer game at times because four or five guys ahead of the ball, four or five guys behind and the whole midfield open, I think they were just up for it and excited. Half time it was all about getting back to our shape and I think we did that a bit better in the second half. But, overall I am pleased with the result and the effort and a lot of things from tonight."

Goalkeeper Luis Robles: "It honestly felt like the hardest three points since I've been here on New York. I'm just really proud of the guys. I felt like that was a gutsy win. We made things a little interesting towards the end and we didn't want to disappoint our fans so we gave up another PK. But that's definitely a win to be proud of."

Dax McCarty on getting the first win: "It feels good. It's a relief. We've been staying positive throughout all of this. Hasn't been easy. Obviously it's been frustrating for us. I think some times, people don't realize that when you go as long as we did without a win, it definitely wears on a time. We responded the right way in training, we responded the right way after the DC game. We knew if we kept doing the things that we had been doing at moments in games - second half against Chivas, second half against DC - we knew the results would come."

Thierry Henry on Eric Alexander: "Eric's been playing well. I've been saying for a very long time, he's kind of the unsung hero. People don't talk too much about him, and today he was brilliant for us. Mike asks him to play on the left, he did it. Sometimes he plays in front of the defense. Sometime he plays on the right. Sometimes he doesn't play - he doesn't moan, he keeps trying to do the best for the team. I guess he got his reward tonight."