1:4 Columbus New York Marshall Cooper 2 Henry 2 04.07.12 · League

When Metro traded for Kenny Cooper during the offseason, many pundits blasted the move, saying that a first round pick and an allocation was too much to give up. That notion seemed absurd at the time, but is completely ridiculous now. The towering striker scored twice in the first 13 minutes of the match, and Titi Henry got two more as Metro romped to an easy 4:1 victory over Columbus. It's the third straight game that the duo scored at least a goal each.

"Clever" Hans Backe did something out of character: bench a player for performance reasons. Joel Lindpere, who, in his three years with Metro, had started every game he was available for, went to the bench in favor of Mehdi Ballouchy. Wilman Conde had to miss due to injury, and was replaced by Stephen Keel.

Cooper opened the scoring just three minutes into the match, as Henry sent a long ball into the box. Cooper, with his back to the net, knocked it down, turned around, and, with a defender on him, placed it to his right. Ten minutes later, he got his second. Dane Richards made a run and took a shot from just outside the box. The ball was deflected and floated in the air, right above Cooper's head. The striker, parked on the doorstep, swiftly redirected it, as the ball floated in for a 2:0 lead.

Henry got on the board in the 40th minute. Roy Miller found the Frenchman on the left side, and Titi made a run into the box, deftly beating Andy Gruenebaum from a sharp angle.

The only suspense of the second half was whether Ryan Meara would get his first shutout. For a while, it looked like he would, as the youngster turned everything away... and on Columbus' best chance, Edgar Renteria sent one wide in front of an empty net. Late in the game, Meara came up huge, saving one (Jan Gunnar Solli then cleared the ball of the line), then another... but sadly, on the ensuing corner kick, S. Markus Holgersson lost Chad Marshall, and the Crew got their consolation.

But they didn't even get to enjoy that. Immediately after the goal, Metro went up the field, and sub Lindpere centered the ball to Henry. The Frenchman, visibly pissed off for losing the shutout, fired a rocket that burned a hole in the Crew net. Soon after, the final whistle sounded. It was Titi's league-leading seventh goal... breaking a tie with Cooper, who passed him earlier in the day.

So a third straight win by three goals, and amazing goal-scoring run from our top two strikers. Henry, many might have expected. Cooper?

Damn the pundits.

Lineup: Meara, Miller, Holgersson, Keel, Solli, Marquez, McCarty, Ballouchy, Richards, Cooper, Henry. Subs: Lindpere.