How good has it been for the Red Bulls in these last four games? Injuries have come to some of their top players like Thierry Henry and Wilman Conde, but for some reason they have found ways to get the results and leap into first place of the Eastern Conference. Would it get to five straight wins for the club up in Montreal?

Against the Impact, well it looked like it was going to be a tough match till horrible officiating crept into the first half. A terrible decision from referee Ismail Elfath as he called for a penalty in the 21st minute and gave the Impact a free chance.

On the replays of the penalty call the apparent hand ball on the Red Bulls was headed down by Bernardo Corradi and it hit Markus Holgersson on the back of his right arm. Holgersson had no idea what happened as his back was towards Corradi. But in the next minute Corradi buries it for the early lead.

But the next chance for a penalty came to the Red Bulls in the 36th minute as Dane Richards tried to cross the ball from the near side. A sliding Tyson Wahl is trying to block the cross and the ball struck his right hand in the Montreal area, which was also a horrible call.

Originally it looked to be a corner as Donovan Ricketts collected the ball over the end line, but instead the near side assistant said hand ball and a penalty for New York. In the 37th minute Kenny Cooper took the spot kick and after a studded step buried it for the equalizer and his tenth of the season.

During the second half everything looked even and both sides were looking good trading chances till a bad foul by Victor Palsson changed things. He was booked earlier in the game for a two footed tackle in the 4th minute, but in the 58th a needless foul from behind got him his second and sent off.

But being a man down didn’t put any panic into the minds of the Red Bulls as they moved on and got their goal while being down to ten men. Roy Miller brought the ball down the near side and found Joel Lindpere who returned the ball. Then Miller made a cross that was parried away by Ricketts who left a juicy rebound for Dane Richards trailing the play. He converted his first of the season in the 67th minute. After a bad start to the season, Richards has been looking dangerous and converts his goal top shelf against his countryman.

After the final whistle blew the Red Bulls who were down a man picked up another three points and are on a five game winning streak. Since the 0-2 start they are now 8-1-1 in their last ten and doing it without their top players who should return against Chivas-USA this coming Wednesday.

Whatever magic Hans Backe is creating this side is doing things no one thought would happen. You might have thought a draw here or there, but they are pulling three points out of thin air and creating a magical atmosphere during training sessions.