Heartless Metros drop second in four days, 2:1
July 24, 2005
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Chung
De Rosario
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Clark(OG)
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Does this team miss Amado Guevara or what? Playing without the team's heart, and playing without any heart, the MetroStars lost their second game in four days, 2:1 to San Jose. The score was not indicative of the disparity of the match; the lone Metro goal came on an off goal of a lucky bounce, and San Jose possessed the ball for such long periods of time that the Metros could not create anything offensively.
Two ever-presents so far this year were missing from the starting lineup; Michael Bradley had to sit out with yellow card suspension, and Chris Leitch was benched in favor of Ryan Suarez, who made his Metro debut. With Guevara and Youri Djorkaeff still out, Bob Bradley moved Mike Magee farther back, and Sergio Galvan Rey slid into midfield, with Abbe Ibrahim up front. Tony Meola was in the net for the second straight match.
After San Jose had closed up the Metros for the first half hour, an unexpected goal came in the 32nd minute. Suarez took a long shot from a few yards off the top right corner of the box (a spot reminiscent from where Fabian Taylor and Joselito Vaca scored against the Quakes in this same stadium a year ago). The ball bounced off ex-Metro Ricardo Clark and over Pat Onstad into the net. Unfortunately, the Metros had little time to celebrate, as San Jose rushed up the field, and a perfect cross onto another ex-Metro's, Mark Chung's head, made it a tied game from close range.
The second half started much of the same, with the Quakes possession interrupted by rare Metro chances. After Meola came up big in the 52nd minute to stop the San Jose attack, Ibrahim had the best chance of the match on the other end, but kicked the ball right into Pat Onstad. After the ensuing corner kick, San Jose got the ball, and the breakway breakaway in a Dwayne De Rosario finish that Meola had no chance on. And that was all she wrote.
It was all she wrote because the Metros were as inept when they were down a goal as they were when the game was tied. Eddie Gaven and Galvan Rey turned in invisible performances; Mark Lisi was horrible, in one sequence losing the ball three times in a span of 10 seconds. He was subbed out for Danilo da Silva, a second Metro given his club debut tonight. Ibrahim and Razov could not do anything, so little they saw of the ball. On the other end, Jeff Parke turned up a second straight good performance, keeping San Jose at bay as they roamed through the Metro penalty area, and Meola was solid again, but it was all for naught.
Bob Bradley better do something fast before this season derails.
Lineup: Meola, Agoos, Parke, Mendes, Suarez, Magee, Lisi, Gaven, Galvan Rey, Ibrahim, Razov. Subs: Leitch, da Silva, Stammler.
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