Metro tops Dallas for first win in two months
September 17, 2011
No Titi Henry, his Achilles injury re-aggravated. No Rafa Marquez, suspended after yellow card accumulation. No Jan Gunnar Solli, out after getting a fraudulent red card. No Roy Miller, still injured. No problem.
What?
Yes, no problem. For tonight, Metro was missing four starters, yet somehow won, beating Dallas 1:0 for the first win since early July. Yes, really. They won. In Dallas. Sounds strange, doesn't it?
Frank Rost finally returned in nets, and was stellar throughout the match, earning his first victory as a Metro. The German jotunn made two huge saves early in the game, as Dallas wasted a number of chances to open the scoring.
The lone goal of the match came in the 36th minute. Stephen Keel found Juan Agudelo on the right side of the field, and the youngster centered the ball to Luke Rodgers. The Dallas defender on Rodgers lost his footing, and the bald Englishman redirected the ball into the net for his seventh of the year.
"Clever" Hans Backe took out Rodgers at the half, as not to re-aggravate his injury, but as it turned out, Metro didn't need him. The make-shift backline of Carlos Mendes (at left back!), Keel, Tim Ream, and Chris Albright stood tall, denying Dallas for most of the game. And Rost's sure hands made easy work of those balls that got through.
So yes, a win, finally, and now followed by two home games in one week. Could this be a start of a turnaround? No problem, right?
Lineup: Rost, Mendes, Ream, Keel, Albright, Tainio, McCarty, Lindpere, Richards, Rodgers, Agudelo. Subs: Ballouchy, Auvray.
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