Metro manages 10-man Montreal, 2:1
October 7, 2015
In a game packed with ghosts of Metro past wearing Montreal blue, it were the players of Metro present (wearing New York white) that came out on top, 2:1. Up a man for the majority of the match, Metro dominated, with the final score not indicative of the disparity between the two teams.
Jesse Marsch kept the lineup the same, and Metro started to dominate from the opening kickoff. 16 minutes into the match witnessed a sequence that left the watchers scratching their head: how did the ball not go in? Sacha Kljestan raced into the penalty box and squared the ball back to Bradley Wright-Phillips. The Englishman's shot was parried by Montreal keeper Evan Bush, and was headed to the net, when it was miraculously redirected. The miracle was explained soon after: ex-Metro Ambroise Oyongo jumped and slapped the ball out of the net. An immediate red card was given, and Kljestan deftly converted the penalty straight down the middle.
In the 31st, Kljestan got his second spot kick of the game, when Lloyd Sam was brought down by the desperate Montreal defense. Unfortunately, this time he went to his right, and Bush get correctly.
Thankfully, the lead doubled after eight more minutes. Bush came out of the net, attempting to stop a Wright-Phillips breakaway. He did not get the ball, which left BWP with a defender to beat. The Englishman's shot went off that defender's leg and then rebounded back, past the befuddled Bush and onto Sam. The other Englishman sent a perfect chip from outside the box and into the empty net.
Montreal's goal also came from the spot, in the 68th minute. On a visitor free kick, a Metro defender was judged to bring down an attacker in the box. Didier Drogba converted. Montreal had two other real chances to score; the first saw Luis Robles denying Drogba. On the second, Metro reject Dominic Oduro slipped passed the defense, but sent his shot harmlessly wide.
Metro could have extended the lead, but both the Wright-Phillips brothers hid the woodwork. First it was Shaun, on a blistering shot that sliced through the penalty area. Then, he fed brother Bradley, but the record goalscorer just couldn't break through tonight, hitting the post.
At the end, an extra goal was not needed, and Metro ran away winners. With a six-point lead and a game in hand on their nearest competitors, that East regular season title looks to be there for the taking...
Lineup: Robles, Lade, Perrinelle, Zubar, Zizzo, McCarty, Martins, Kljestan, Grella, Sam, Wright-Phillips. Subs: Davis, Wright-Phillips, Veron.
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