Metro dominates FAS, only wins by two
August 26, 2014
It's hard to remember a game where Metro so utterly dominated its opponent. They picked apart the visitors, dancing through the hopeless El Salvadorians, creating chance after chance after chance. The final scoreline said 2:0, but it speaks more of Metro's ineptitude in front of goal than of the complete supremacy that was the rest of the match.
Mike Petke started a mixed lineup for the team's first CONCACAF game since the ill-fated 2009 season. Ryan Meara came in in goal. Roy Miller was the only regular on defense, joined by Armando, debutant Damien Perrinelle, and we-thought-he-was-dead Richard Eckersley. Ambroise Oyongo, Eric Alexander, Peguy Luyindula, and Lloyd Sam made up the midfield. Tim Cahill and Saer Sene started up front.
The scoring was opened in the 11th minute. Oyongo, who had a field day against the slow-to-react El Salvadorians, hit a cross that was headed down by Cahill to the feet of Sene. The newly-acquired Metro easily converted his first goal for his new team.
And then, it started to pour... missed opportunities. Oyongo beat his man and centered to Cahill, whose close-range header was saved by the goalkeeper. Sam waltzed through the right, centered the ball to an unmarked Sene, who, with the unguarded net in front of him, tripped, sending the ball wide. In the second half, it was Sam again, running through, beating two defenders, getting in position... missing wide. Then, Sene was put through, the goalkeeper came out, Sene walked around, and missed the empty net. All these looked liked gimmies.
Metro's second goal wasn't. Luyindula intercepted the ball at midfield and walked straight down the middle, finding Sam on the right in front of the penalty area. The Englishman put the ball to the goalie's short side to put the game out of reach.
The result was Metro's first regulation win in international competition since the August 2001 triumph against Venezuela's Deportivo Italchacao in the long-defunct Copa Merconorote.
Lineup: Meara, Miller, Armando, Perrinelle, Eckersley, Oyongo, Alexander, Luyindula, Sam, Cahill, Sene. Subs: Stevenson, McCarty, Obekop.
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