Winless road campaign ends with 2:0 loss to Salt Lake
October 15, 2009
A year ago, Metro went to Salt Lake and scrapped out a 1:0 win. It wasn't pretty; they scored early and held on for dear life, thanking Danny Cepero and the goalposts for a tremendous victory that put them in MLS Cup.
Flash forward to today. Ineptitude. 90 minutes of ineptitude in every area of the field -- except for in the nets, where Cepero once again stood tall, keeping Salt Lake off the scoreboard until late in the game. By the time it was all said and done, the score was 2:0 on goals by Andy Williams and Fabian Espindola. That year-ago win seems decades old.
And with the loss, ends Metro's 2009 road campaign. The totals are disastrously horrific: 15 games, 13 losses, two ties. And there was no indication that they would get that elusive tonight. To win, you need to score a goal. And that was never in the cards.
Early in the first half, Mac Kandji had a breakaway on the Salt Lake goal. The ball went meters wide. Was it a shot? Was it a pass? What it was is the microcosm of Kandji's season. But the inept attacker should not be the only one bearing the blame; everyone from the midfield on up was terrible. (Of course, when the roster is assembled with no attacking midfielder and only three forwards -- two of whom are injured -- what can you expect?)
One more game left in the season from hell. One more game.
Lineup: Cepero, Borman, Petke, Boyens, Johnson, Stammler, Celades, Hall, Ubiparipovic, Richards, Kandji. Subs: Mbuta, Oebster.
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