Idiotic mistake costs Metro two points vs Chivas
June 29, 2008
If one is an optimist, one can look at tonight's result against Chivas USA in a positive light. A road point is a road point, and one coming in the match where Metro was outplayed is nothing to sneeze at. If one is a pessimist, one might point out that the loan Goat goal came off an idiotic mistake by Kevin Goldthwaite; frankly, Metro deserved better. We're going to leave it open-ended as to which side of the argument we belong to tonight.
A few changes were made from last week's win against Dallas; Dave van den Bergh moved into midfield and Goldthwaite took his left back slot, Jeff Parke returning to central defense. Mike Magee and Oscar Echeverry sat, while John Wolyniec started upfront.
Dane Richards' speed on the right flank gave the Goats problems again and again. He created Metro's best three chances of the period, each time burning past a Chivas defender. One ended with a cross being knocked away from Wolyniec at the last minute; the other with a Richards shot going wide left. But in the 26th minute, Richards was fouled outside the box, and van den Bergh stood up and hit the free kick around the wall, over everyone's head, and into the left side of the net.
On the other side, Conway wandered out of the net in the 33rd minute, but Hunter Freeman made a big play, saving the ball of the line. Then, three minutes into first half injury time, something inexplicably happened. With a foul against the Goats deep in Metro end, all Goldthwaite had to do was to kick the ball forward for the half to be whistled dead. Idiotically, he played the ball square. Jeff Parke, not expecting such a pass, started to walk upfield, and Metro killer Ante Razov pounced on the ball, picking it at the edge of the box and slotting it past Conway to tie the match.
The Goats made tactical adjustments at halftime, and controlled most of the match from that point on. Conway was pressed into service early, making two huge saves, one on a blistering free kick; the other on a close shot with a last-minute reach. Oscar Echeverry checked into the match early in the half, and once again, proved useless, his first touch failing him the two times he got the ball.
At the end, Metro seemed content with the 1:1 draw. Sadly, it could have been better. Or perhaps, it could have been worse?
Lineup: Conway, Goldthwaite, Parke, Boyens, Freeman, Mendes, Stammler, van den Bergh, Ubiparipovic, Richards, Wolyniec. Subs: Echeverry, Magee, Sassano.
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