Escobar own goal gifts draw to DC, 3:3
September 27, 2017
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Adams 2
Veron
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Stieber
Mullins
Escobar(OG)
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This one was supposed to be the slump breaker. Playing a hated rival whose season is already over, playing at home, with the Open Cup disappointment now behind... Mired in a middle of a winless slump that threatens to push them out of a playoff position... This one had to be a win. It wasn't.
Despite dominating the game and staging a frantic comeback, Metro gave up an injury time equalizer, scored by their own player, Fidel Escobar, to finish at 3:3.
Jesse Marsch reshuffled the defense, giving Aaron Long a rest and benching Escobar, with Kemar Lawrence and Michael Murillo coming back from their wing spots the previous game. Connor Lade and Tyler Adams started on the outside, and the two combined for the first Metro goal.
That came in the 19th minute, when a Lade cross found Adams all alone in the box. The youngster took a touch, then placed it into the net for his first career goal.
DC answered in first-half stoppage time, when a free kick went through the fall, deflected off a diving player, and trickled into the far corner of the net. They would get the lead in the 70th, when Metro fell asleep on a throw-in, left Patrick Mullins unmarked, and paid for it.
But then, magic looked to have happened. In the 74th, an Adams shot went through the penalty area -- including through BWP's legs -- and ended in the net. Four minutes later, sub Gonzalo Veron raced up the left flank, only to be pulled down in the box. The once-maligned Argentine stepped up to convert his second penalty in as many games, and suddenly, Metro had the lead.
That lead held until injury time, when sub Escobar got his foot on a cross and redirected it into the net. Just like that, three points turned into one, and Metro was left scratching their heads.
Playoffs might still happen... but at this rate, any success there seems laughable.
Lineup: Robles, Lawrence, Perrinelle, Murillo, Lade, Adams, Martins, Davis, Kljestan, Muyl, Wright-Phillips. Subs: Escobar, Veron, Royer.
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