Late BWP goals squish Worms, 2:0
June 18, 2017
 |
0:2
|
 |
| Philadelphia |
|
New York |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bradley Wright-Phillips seemed a tad off. Two times in the second half, he seemed to be in a perfect position to score, only to have the ball go by. Metro, up a man since the 53rd, looked destined to go home with a point. But then -- bang, bang, 2:0 -- BWP had two, and Metro beat Philly or their first road win since opening day. Not bad for being a tad off.
With Kemar Lawrence feeling ill, Jesse Marsch elected to repeat the Open Cup experiment of playing Aaron Long at left back. Aurelien Collin stepped in for his first MLS minutes since April. Tyler Adams also returned in league play, pushing Sean Davis to the bench. Since Mike Grella has been shelved, Alex Muyl got another start.
A fantastic Luis Robles fingertip save from a Chris Pontius shot was the Metro highlight of the first half. The Worms did manage to get the ball in the back of the net, on a play where their player tried to gauge Robles' eye out. (We're not exaggerating here!) The goal was obviously called back.
Late in the half, Marsch made a tactical adjustment by swapping Sacha Kljestan and Felipe positionally, and it seemed to have worked. Kljestan started to find passing lanes, and the tides looked to have turned. Then, eight minutes into the second half, an awful leg-breaking tackle by Derrick Jones on Felipe reduced the Worms to ten. Metro was in a perfect position to end the road slump.
And yet, it looked like it wouldn't happen, with the perfect example coming when Muyl was left all alone on a corner. His header rung off the goalpost and went to BWP... but the usually-wonderful striker missed the ball.
Nevertheless, today it ended well. In the 87th minute, Lawrence, who came at the half for the injured Long, sent a perfect low cross that Wright-Phillips redirected into the net. Two minutes into injury time, it was Sal Zizzo's turn to feed BWP, as the Englishman doubled the lead to set the final margin.
So, the woeful road run is finally over. Still, one must remember that Metro needed a last-gasp effort to beat a 10-man team. That being said, beggars can't be choosers... Thankfully, the beggars had BWP on their side.
Lineup: Robles, Long, Collin, Perrinelle, Murillo, Adams, Martins, Kljestan, Muyl, Royer, Wright-Phillips. Subs: Lawrence, Zizzo, Veron.
|
