3:2 MetroStars Dallas Razov Magee Galvan Rey Goodson 2 07.27.05 · League

Youri Djorkaeff didn't have to play tonight, but his team needed him, so bad hamstring and all, he did. Perhaps inspired by the World Cup hero, the Metros woke up from a fortnight-long slumber, and came back to beat Dallas, 3:2. The 999 Boys, Ante Razov and Sergio Galvan Rey, scored the bookend goals, with Mike Magee putting home the other.

Djorkaeff was not the only change too the lineup; Chris Leitch regained his spot at right back from the now-injured Ryan Suarez, and Michael Bradley came back from his suspension for Magee. Abbe Ibarhim sat out as Galvan Rey moved back to the front, Djorkaeff positioned behind the 999 Boys.

It didn't take the Metros long to break through, as Djorkaeff sent in a perfect through pass to Razov, who beat the offside trap, and then put it into the net past Scott Garlick from a tough angle. But beating the offside did not become the theme of the half, as not once, not twice, but three times, our favorite referee Abbey Okulaja called back Metro goals for that infraction.

Dallas scored against the run of play in the 38th minute, Clarence Goodson knocking the ball home after a scramble in the box. And after the break it was Goodson again, scoring off a corner kick just a minute into the action. With Jeff Parke leaving at the half with an apparent injury, giving Seth Stammler his first real regular season minutes as a Metro, all looked doomed.

But it wasn't. Djorkaeff's rocket off the bar in the 64th minute rung in Metro resurgence. Four minutes later, Magee, who just came onto the field, knotted the game off a Metro corner kick. Garlick went for the ball, tried to catch it, dropped it, and landed awkwardly; Magee was poaching at the far post, with no one around him. And in the 74th, it was Galvan Rey's time to play hero. Sprung by a Razov pass, the much-maligned Argentine coolly slipped the ball past the onrushing Garlick. With the score standing up at the end of the match, it was the first time Galvan Rey scored in a Metro victory.

Razov almost extended the Metro lead soon after, but his shot went off the woodwork, and Garlick made a save on a Eddie Gaven follow-up header. From then, it was Okulaja time, as the horrible official found fault with everything Metros did, while letting Dallas off without even a warning. But no Dallas chances found their way through the Metro defense, which held firm late for a much-needed victory. And Djorkaeff did his part, going the full 90 and schooling the Dallas players time and time again.

Lineup: Meola, Agoos, Parke, Mendes, Leitch, Bradley, Lisi, Gaven, Djorkaeff, Galvan Rey, Razov. Subs: Stammler, Magee, da Silva.