Toronto vs. New York Red Bulls: All Highlights and Late Thierry Henry Heroics

It was a Major League Soccer Eastern Conference classic on Saturday as the New York Red Bulls visited BMO field to take on Toronto FC, with a potential spot in the MLS playoffs on the line.

After maintaining an envious position in the Eastern Conference standings for most of the first half of their 2011 campaign, a midseason slump saw New York fall down the table. The team have just barely held on to the last wildcard position as the end of the season looms on the horizon.

They hoped to strengthen that hold on a playoff berth this weekend, while trying to recapture the offensive spark that made their early season such a success. However, more defensive worries and continued frustrations with their finishing saw the match end in a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes.

The home side opened the scoring early in the second half, thanks to a beauty of a shot from a wide angle from Toronto striker Danny Koevermans (assisted by Ryan Johnson).

Toronto then settled back to defend a series of strong New York attacks that just couldn't find their way through. It looked as though the visiting side would suffer a loss that would cause them to fall out of the wildcard zone altogether.

However, in the 88th minute, Dax McCarty found Thierry Henry with a well-placed corner kick and the Frenchman hammered in the low shot for the late equalizing goal.

The late heroics allowed New York to escape Canada with a crucial point in the standings and remain tied with the Portland Timbers for the lowest wildcard seed available in the new MLS Cup playoff structure. However, thanks to an 11-goal advantage over Portland in terms of goal-difference (a tiebreaker in the new rules), New York technically maintain that wildcard position with only three fixtures left in their schedule.