Metro allows 10-man Dallas to come back, 2:2
September 2, 2017
When one looks at the boxscore, one would assume that Metro blew the game. Up a man for more than a half, only to give up the lead twice and settle for a 2:2 tie... But the story on the field was completely different: despite outnumbering Dallas, Metro was thoroughly outplayed, and was actually lucky to return home with a point.
International absences meant a reshuffling of the defense, and Sal Zizzo Jr., Damien Perrinelle, and Connor Lade came in for Kemar Lawrence, Fidel Escobar, and Michael Murillo.
Metro came out of the gates completely putrid, with Dallas controlling the play for most of the first half. Attack after attack went down the Metro end, with Tyler Adams clearing a cross from just outside the goalmouth to preserve the scoreless draw.
The game changed in the 37th minute when Jacori Hayes got a second yellow for a bad tackle on Lade. Metro began to take control, and six minutes later, Alex Muyl fed Bradley Wright-Phillips in the box. The striker played provider, touching it back to Sacha Kljestan, who took a step to center it, then blasted it into the top of the net.
Up a man, Metro held possession for much of the early second half, leaving open holes on defense. They were punished in the 54th, when a ball dropped, Aaron Long got confused, and a flying Hernan Grana pounced on the ensuing pass to tie the score. Long made amends three minutes later, getting his head on a Kljestan free kick to give Metro the lead again. It was his first goal as a Metro.
The lead would not last, when, in the 75th, Lade brought down Michael Barrios in the box. Mauro Diaz scored from the spot to make it 2:2.
Thankfully, it stayed 2:2, for Metro, up a man, completely lost control at that point. BWP headed a ball off the line, Adams once again rescued a ball that dropped close to the net, and then came injury time. After a needless giveaway by Perrinelle, two ensuing Dallas corners saw a string of Robles saves, a hit crossbar, and a scramble that somehow stayed out of the net.
Muhamed Keita made his debut in the second half, but did not see much of the ball... which can be said of a lot of his teammates as well. Clearly, it was a stolen point. Sometimes, you gotta take these and move on...
Lineup: Robles, Zizzo, Long, Perrinelle, Lade, Adams, Martins, Davis, Kljestan, Muyl, Wright-Phillips. Subs: Keita, Veron, Etienne.
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