Thierry Henry scores great goal to help New York Red Bulls win their first major trophy

Despite being a founding member of MLS, the biggest trophy the New York Red Bulls (nee New York/New Jersey MetroStars) had won in their 17-year history was probably the Emirates Cup — the award for winning a four-team exercise organized by an airline. Their modest trophy cabinet has been the source of ridicule and talk of a curse for years, but when you have Thierry Henry on your team, it's hard to go too long without winning something of significance.

In a battle for the the league's best regular season record and the Supporters' Shield (not to be confused with the MLS Cup, which is awarded to the winner of the playoffs and is the most important title of the season) that went to the final day, Henry scored the first goal in New York's vital 5-2 win against Chicago to finally break the curse. And he did it with a typically spectacular effort.

With Chicago up 1-0, Henry controlled a pass from the midway line with his chest and quickly got off a shot at the top of the box that opposing keeper Sean Johnson could only watch. The ball ping off the bottom of the crossbar and in for the equalizer before New York went on to add four more for an uncharacteristically comfortable win and claim the club's biggest trophy yet.

Henry finishes the regular season with 10 goals, while New York's other star, Tim Cahill, had 11. And now it would almost be fitting if they could go on and win the MLS Cup to completely decimate the club's cursed reputation.

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Brooks Peck is the editor of Dirty Tackle on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him or follow on Twitter!

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