Thierry Henry is beginning to play like these are the last matches he will ever be in. The 37 year old Frenchman has naturally lost some of the extraordinary pace displayed at Arsenal, but can still dictate the game with his brilliant passes, and ability to control the field. That was on display in New York's 3-1 win over Toronto FC.

In a game that started rather slowly with neither team getting much in the way of chances, Henry took advantage of a gap in the TFC midfield and found an onrushing Kosuke Kimura whose clinical cross found an open Bradley Wright Phillips for his 25th goal of the season. The 29 year old former Manchester City striker has truly found stardom in New York City and has gained greatly from the tactical lessons of Henry.

As has been the trend throughout the season when TFC give up a goal on the road, the players often lose concentration and Ruben Bover's unassisted goal was a perfect example as the Spanish winger scored his first goal of the year being virtually untouched in the 6 yard box.

At the 41 minute mark, both benches went silent as Toronto FC's Jackson and NYRB's Jamison Olave went down after butting heads in a battle for the ball. Olave was able to play the remaining of the match while Jackson would be taken off at the half.

Before the halftime whistle, one could sense that communication had broken down entirely. The TFC backline scrambled in the wrong directions as Phillips strong pass to Dax McCarty put the score at 3-0 in one of the most dismal starts for TFC this year.

TFC Coach Greg Vanney replaced Jackson and Kyle Bekker for Dominic Oduro and Brazilian striker Gilberto. The change seemed to bring more energy to the visitors who found a new energy unseen since the summer when Jermain Defoe and Gilberto last played together. With more speed upfront, NYRB fell back on their heels and a tenacious cross by Justin Morrow to Jonathan Osorio who wasted no time in finishing the close range shot and chose not to celebrate. Instead, he brought the ball back to the centre so TFC could fully change the momentum. For several minutes the Reds did just that, however, there were few in the way of true challenges for NYRB goalie Luis Robles. Henry's old English rival Defoe missed some open chances to make it a one goal margin and Gilberto's strong header flying wide of Robles.

With TFC taking constant risks it did not take long for Henry's brilliance to shine again as his brilliant pass through traffic to Bradley Wright Phillips was stopped by a diving Joe Bendik in what was easily the save of the game. It would be of no consolation to TFC, as within a span of less than a minute the Reds saw their season virtually end. In a jump for the ball Nick Haglund's elbow was deemed a red card.

Losing the promising young defender was punishment enough but Michael Bradley's fierce reaction led to a yellow along with missing the next match against Montreal. TFC are all but mathematically eliminated. To make the playoffs they would have to win the next 2 matches while Columbus needs to lose its final 2.

In a heated situation as tempers frayed on both clubs, Henry seemed to say words to calm down the designated player and US Midfielder, showing that his leadership spreads to all players in the game, and not exclusively to those on his own team.

One can truly see that the players on NYRB want to ensure Thierry Henry can capture the one trophy missing from his list of accomplishments. For a man who came to NYRB because he loved the city and the culture, the greatest reward would be ending his playing days with an MLS Cup.