1:3 New York Toronto Richards Barrett 2 Ibrahim 10.04.08 · League

Gabriel Cichero. The man who was supposed to solidify the Metro defense. The man who looked so good early on. The man whose stock has since plummeted. The man who was so bad a week ago, he was taken off the field at the half. The man who was responsible -- directly or not -- for the three goals allowed by Metro, as they got torched, at home, by last-place Toronto, 3:1. The playoffs, which looked like a certainty very recently, look very much in doubt after this, Metro's third straight loss. They allowed eleven goals in those three games.

Marvell Wynne. The man Bruce Arena gave up on last year. We've tried to justify that trade when it happened: Wynne was too raw, he wasn't a complete player, Arena wasn't a fan, he was too expensive, Metro just acquired a starting right back (Hunter Freeman)... All that seems meaningless now. For Wynne, with his blazing speed, created the game-winning goal all on his own, as no Metro was able to catch up.

Juan Carlos Osorio reverted to a 4-4-2, with Kevin Goldthwaite coming back from his suspension for Diego Jimenez, Chris Leitch starting on the right, and Carlos Mendes going to the bench.

Toronto's first goal came in the 27th minute, as an inexplicable header by Cichero, 40 yards from goal, back to Jon Conway, was intercepted by Chad Barrett for a 1:0 lead. Metro answered four minutes into the second half, as Juan Pablo Angel flicked on a Kevin Goldthwaite throw-in up the left wing to Richards, who raced through the Toronto defenders and calmly slotted one home for his second in as many games.

The game was now tied, and with Dave van den Bergh, who entered the game at halftime after a quick recovery from hernia surgery, Metro looked to have an upper hand. And when they earned a free kick just outside the Toronto penalty area 20 minutes into the half, it looked like perfect Angel territory. But the free kick was taken by Jorge Rojas, didn't make it over the wall, and was eventually retrieved by Wynne. Immediately, the former Metro was off to the races up the left flank; no current Metro was able to catch up. Cichero was caught upfield, leaving only Jeff Parke back, so when Wynne slotted the ball to Barrett, Toronto regained the lead with ease.

And that was that. There were some other chances, Angel denied from a tough angle by the goalpost, and then, in the 86th, Cichero was beaten in the air by Abdus Ibrahim, and just like that it was 3:1.

Game over. Season over? There are three games left. A playoff berth a still a possibility, but... But, but, but. It doesn't look good.

And Osorio's once-heralded midseason South American signings... Jorge Rojas was invisible for most of the match, Juan Pietravallo was taken off at halftime, and Cichero... don't get us started on Cichero.

Lineup: Conway, Goldthwaite, Cichero, Parke, Leitch, Pietravallo, Stammler, Rojas, Richards, Magee, Angel. Subs: van den Bergh, Kandji.