5:4 MetroStars New England Magee 2 Djorkaeff 2 Guevara Joseph 2 Dempsey Twellman 09.17.05 · League

Youri Djorkaeff scored from an impossible angle with four minutes left in regulation to cap off a psychotic, frantic, ridiculous nine-goal game as the MetroStars kept their playoff chase alive, topping the league-leading New England Revolution 5:4. The Metros lost a two-goal lead late in the second half, but persevered behind Djorkaeff's brilliance. Youri's game-winner was his second of the match; Mike Magee also scored two including the key goal to tie the game, and Amado Guevara had the other.

Coming off the shutout of Kansas City, the MetroStars made only one change to the lineup; Chris Leitch came back to start for the suspended Tim Regan. The game started with the momentum clearly on the Metro side, and it paid off just seven minutes into the match. Djorkaeff sent in a perfect pass to Magee at the edge of the box; the latter chested it to himself, and blasted a shot off Matt Reis and into the net.

Slowly but surely, the Revs started to creep up. In the 29th minute, the ball was not whistled out of bounds and led to a New England free kick. Shalrie Joseph pushed off, but the referee did not notice it, rose above the Metro defense, and headed in the tying goal. The Revs had the momentum for the rest of the half, with Tony Meola making a key save on Taylor Twellman late in the period after a miss-hit clear in the Metro box.

But the Metros came out of the break on fire. After Eddie Gaven was brought down in the box with the clear two-hand push five minutes after the interval, Metro kept composure, and Guevara sent in a perfect pass to Djorkaeff, who rounded Reis and scored from a tough angle. Then, in the 59th minute, Tim Ward broke free on the left flank and sent in a perfect cross to Guevara, who knocked in his tenth of the season for a two-goal lead.

But the lead didn't last. First Joseph (a Twellman push in the box was not called), then Clint Dempsey, and then Twellman himself, knocking in the rebound off a Meola save. The three goals came in 13 minutes, and suddenly the Metros season looked to be in deep feces.

But... we have to start the third straight paragraph with a but, just two minutes after the Revs got the lead, Michael Bradley sent in a perfect pass to Mike Magee, who walked in on the New England net, fought off the vastly-overrated Michael Parkhurst (it was his foul on Gaven that was not called), and calmly slotted home the game-tying goal.

And then it was Youri time. In the 86th minute, he walked through the Rev defense to the right side of the goal line and shot the ball into Reis from what looked like an impossible angle. Apparently, the Rev goalkeeper thought the same, and let the ball go through him on the short side and into the net. Metro held off for the rest, including some frantic injury time, for a terrific psychotic victory.

Lineup: Meola, Ward, Agoos, Mendes, Leitch, Bradley, Magee, Guevara, Gaven, Djorkaeff, Razov. Subs: Lisi, Galvan Rey, Suarez.