Last-second goal salvages third straight 1:1 tie
March 30, 2014
It all looked lost. Down 1:0 to a terrible Chivas team, in a terribly officiated game, deep into injury time... But an unlikely hero emerged. Peguy Luyindula, who can't seem to hit the barn door, rose to head in a corner kick to split the spoils. That being said, the visitors were not the only terrible team here: Metro was absolutely brutal in the first half.
Mike Petke's lineup switches included the return from suspension of Armando for Ibrahim Sekagya, Bobby Convey coming in on the left for Jonny Steele, and Luyindula starting in the middle for Eric Alexander. Metro was also forced to make two first-half changes due to injury, as Cahill hurt his hamstring and Richard Eckersley pulled up lame as well. They were replaced by Bradley Wright-Phillips and Kosuke Kimura.
Alas, Eckersley's departure from the game came after he had an impact. In the 25h minute, the one-time Man United defender brought down a Goats attacker in the box...
Now, let's get it out of the way. The referee, Juan Guzman, was beyond incompetent. Once Chivas realized that he will call every instance of contact, they resolved to falling down and rolling over on the grass. That being said, Eckersley's foul... Well, it doesn't matter. Erick Torres scored on the ensuing penalty kick, Metro was down, bad refereeing or not.
See, it's shouldn't have been about the refereeing. Metro should have run off this Chivas team off the field. The Goats were beyond incompetent; but Metro wasn't much better. The lack of creativity in the first half was astounding. Dax McCarty was almost playing as a fifth defender, Lloyd Sam was invisible, Convey and Luyindula were aimlessly drifting...
Whatever was said at halftime, worked. This was a different team. Sam was born anew, taking over the right flank with authority. Heck, even the much-maligned Roy Miller was terrific on the left. And the chances started coming. A Titi Henry header sailed just high. Then, Sam found Henry in the box, and the ball actually ended up in the back of the net, but Luyindula, parked in front, was called offside. A Wright-Phillips breakaway was thwarted Goat keeper Dan Kennedy. (We hope that he is getting tips from coach Paul Grafer. The pants are still long and black. We checked.)
As the matches was winding down, it looked like it was one of those games where Metro just won't be able to break through. A beautifully dipping ball from McCartney was punched by Kennedy over the bar, and anything Metro tried couldn't find the back of the net.
Fortunately, five minutes into injury time, an Alexander corner found the head of Luyindula, and the point was saved. Oh well. It could have been better; but at least it wasn't all lost...
Lineup: Robles, Miller, Olave, Armando, Eckersley, McCarty, Convey, Luyindula, Sam, Cahill, Henry. Subs: Wright-Phillips, Kimura, Alexander.
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