Peguy giveth, Peguy taketh in fourth straight draw
April 5, 2014
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Romero
Martins
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Steele
Luyindula
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The game was there to be lost. Metro, behind the eight ball for the first half hour of the match. Already down, playing on Montreal's terrible turf, without its three most important players, and thoroughly outplayed... And yet, two quick goals, the second from Peguy Luyindula, and just like that, a deficit is turned into a lead.
The game was there to be won. Up 2:1 early in the second half, and Bradley Wright-Phillips gets taken down in the box. Finally, the penalty gods are smiling, until... Luyindula rings the shot off the post.
No, just like the last three matches, the game was there to be tied. That's how it ended, 2:2, after Montreal evened it in the 59th minute. But first things first...
The absences of Thierry Henry, Jamison Olave, Tim Cahill, and Richard Eckersley, together with the benching of Dax McCarty, led to a 4-5-1. Wright-Phillips was the lone striker up front, Jonny Steele started on the left, pushing Bobby Convey to the middle, where he was joined by Eric Alexander. Ibrahim Sekagya and Kosuke Kimura filled in on defense.
Montreal broke through just five minutes into the match. With Kimura caught upfield and Armando spun around, Andres Romero slotted the shot from the edge of the box and past Luis Robles. A few minutes later, the hosts almost doubled the lead, but Sekagya did magnificently to clear the ball out of the air as it was inches from going into the net. Then, Robles stopped a breakaway by coming out and cutting down the angle. Although he did allow the two goals, the Metro netminder had a spectacular match.
The game turned around in the 31st. Kimura got the ball to Lloyd Sam, whose perfect cross found Steele, who had a defender right on him. Then, three minutes later, Steele caused a turnover, and got the ball to captain Luyindula, who did well to swing the ball around Troy Perkins.
This led to the missed penalty kick, which led to Montreal tying it. It all started with a collision in front of net. Robles did well to make a save, but the ball landed in front of him. Sekagya and Kimura ran into each other, trying to clear the ball out. With Kimura on the sidelines, the wind knocked out of him, Felipe rose to head in the game-tying goal.
After these last four games, we're getting tired of all of this ties...
Lineup: Robles, Miller, Sekagya, Armando, Kimura, Alexander, Steele, Convey, Sam, Luyindula, Wright-Phillips. Subs: McCarty, Miazga, Lade.
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