HARRISON, N.J. (AP) - Thierry Henry scored his league-leading ninth goal in the seventh minute, and then went down with a right hamstring injury 15 minutes later, leading the New York Red Bulls to a 1-0 victory over the New England Revolution on Saturday.
"His injury is disastrous for us," said Backe, who estimated that Henry will miss the next month. "His leadership in every single training session is invaluable. It's a huge loss for us, both on and off the pitch. It's going to be difficult now without him."
The Red Bulls (4-3-1) remained unbeaten at home (3-0-1) and temporarily move past D.C. United for second place in the MLS Eastern Conference standings.
Rookie goalkeeper Ryan Meara made five saves in recording his first MLS shutout, including a diving stop on Lee Nguyen's blast in added time to preserve the shutout.
"We all really battled, each and every one of us," Meara said. "It was a full team performance and we deserved to win this one. Even though we're a little banged up, we all had faith and believed. No matter who's on the field, we feel confident we could win."
New England (2-5) was shut out for the fourth time in seven matches and has scored only five goals all season.
Henry, who declined to speak to the media after the game, made a brilliant move to score. He took a throw-in from rookie Connor Lade and maneuvered past Revolution defender Stephen McCarthy to get to the ball. Henry then flicked a right-footed shot over New England goalkeeper Matt Reis, who came far out of the box to try to stop Henry.
The goal put Henry ahead of San Jose's Chris Wondolowski for the MLS lead, but it might be the last goal Henry scores for quite some time.
In the 22nd minute, Henry attempted to streak toward goal, but stopped short, then grabbed his right hamstring as he slid along the turf. He was in obvious pain, as he held his face and pounded the turf in disgust.
Henry was eventually helped off the field by two members of the Red Bulls medical staff. He was replaced in the lineup by midfielder Victor Palsson.
Henry rejoined his team on the sidelines for the second half, wearing his warm-ups.
The Red Bulls have been devastated by injuries already this season.
Forward Juan Agudelo is still out after undergoing knee surgery. Midfielder Teemo Tainio has a sprained knee. Defenders Stephen Keel (back), Roy Miller (knee) and Wilman Conde (groin) also did not play. It was also the second game of Rafa Marquez's three-game suspension.
In the second half, the rookie made a great save on Benny Feilhaber's header from directly in front of the goal in the 73rd minute and made another solid save on Feilhaber's rising blast in the closing minutes.
"Give the kid credit, he faked me out," Feilhaber said. "I heard him say something and he tricked me. I should have headed it past him."