2:1 New York New England McCarty Wright-Phillips Davies 08.02.14 · League

We have to be honest; going into halftime, we were about to write the season off. Playing at home, Metro was outclassed by a pedestrian New England side. The scoreboard read 1:0, but it could have been much worse. What didn't make the matter better is that seconds before the break, Matt Miazga was shown a needless straight red card for tackling Lee Nguyen in the middle of the field.

And yet, this season might have some legs in it. In a remarkable turnaround, 10-man Metro scored two second half goals to sweep their supposed northern rivals for the first time in club history.

Jamison Olave's "love tap" suspension forced the insertion of Miazga into the lineup. The only other change was Lloyd Sam, returning from his own suspension, for Eric Alexander.

The Rev goal came in the 20th minute. Off a Metro turnover, the ball was swung to the right side and crossed in front of the goal. Ibrahim Sekagya was unlucky to touch it, redirecting the ball onto Charlie Davies. The striker, who will forever be remembered for missing out the 2010 World Cup for being a drunken imbecile, scored.

Metro's lone chance of the first half came when Ambroise Oyongo (who would have thought that the offseason's best acquisition turned out to be a Cameroonian youngster?) sent a perfect long ball to Thierry Henry. Unfortunately, the Rev defense closed down on the Metro captain.

But that was it; the lone spark of hope in the 45 minutes of dreadful soccer, lost possessions, and inept defending. And with Miazga's red, it all looked doomed. But somehow... it wasn't.

At the break, Petke inserted Eric Alexander for the ineffective (and hurt) Tim Cahill, and the move paid off immediately. Two minutes in, Alexander got the ball back to Dax McCarty, who sent an exquisite chip from just outside the penalty area. The ball dipped over the clueless Bobby Shuttleworth and into the net. Then, in the 63rd, Sam made one of his usual right-sided runs, and got the ball into the box to Bradley Wright-Phillips. The Englishman did well to keep control, then slammed his shot off the far left post and in. Somehow, Metro had the lead.

And somehow, Metro held the lead, despite the Revs doing their all to rescue a point. In fact, Metro almost doubled its advantage, when late in the game, Henry won the ball and found Peguy Luyindula. The other Frenchman, with Alexander wide open on his left, decided to shoot, and rang the ball off the post.

Late sub Kosuke Kimura did well to clear a ball that was set for goal out of danger, and overall, the defense held firm. So all is not written off... just yet.

Lineup: Robles, Miller, Sekagya, Miazga, Duvall, McCarty, Oyongo, Cahill, Sam, Wright-Phillips, Henry. Subs: Alexander, Luyindula, Kimura.