Was it skill that drove New York Red Bull defender Brandon Barklage’s brace against DC United? Perhaps some extra sessions in training?

Not in Thierry Henry’s eyes. The Red Bulls captain preferred to credit a primeval emotion that would certainly please the likes of Lord Palpatine and Darth Vader.

“Sometimes there are some things you cannot explain,” Henry said. “I would like to put it down to Brandon alone. He wanted to score. He wanted to score because he was playing against DC I guess. I don’t know if you put it down to revenge, I don’t know what it was, but when you score a goal that he scored, the first goal – that’s pure rage. Nothing else.”

On a corner kick situation, a stagnant mass of figures inside the box eagerly awaited service when they were caught off guard by a flying Barklage, who sprinted into the area and drop-kicked the ball into the back of the net before the eyes of a stoic and stunned Dwayne De Rosario.

“To go and get the ball like he went to go get it – first of all, he shouldn’t have even been there,” Henry said. “He is never there. Not in a bad way, but usually he doesn’t go there but when you want to score, when you really want something, it can happen and Brandon is a perfect example of that on Sunday. He just wanted to score, no matter how.

“Sometimes that’s all you need when you want to score a goal.”

The brace, which represented his first two goals in Barklage’s injury laden career, are the cherry on top to a season filled with highlights for the former United draft pick. “It’s not only that Solli picked up an injury and Barklage got that chance because even Connor (Lade) has played instead of Roy (Miller) when Roy is away in the international,” Backe said. “He’s still improving and just getting better and better. He can play both wide midfield and as a left back. It’s good for the salary cap because it is two cheap fullbacks, so that is good.”

So is it just the anger driving him? “(Barklage) is definitely taking his chances playing as a fullback,” Backe continued. “He’s technically very good, he never gets stressed, he’s an attacking fullback but perhaps the thing he has improved is his defending game. It looked like a couple weeks ago he would have a drop or dip but then after the Chicago game he once again stepped up and played two good games against Chicago and DC.”

Maybe not.