|
| |
 |
|
|
Guevara, 2005
|
Ten Best: Metro vs Fire
October 23, 2017
So, for the first time since a memorable series in 2000, Metro will play Chicago in the playoffs. Of course, there have been many eventful meetings between the two since: the 2003 Open Cup final, two Supporters Shield clinchers... So, let's look a Metro's ten best games against the Fire (meaning we will have to skip the end of that playoff series and that final). What, we already did this in 2008? Well, an update is sorely needed!
10) May 24, 2007: New York 3, Chicago 0
It was all over soon after it began. Jozy Altidore scored 55 seconds into the match, then the earliest goal in Metro history, and Juan Pablo Angel scored just two minutes after that. He added one in the second half for good measure, faking out current Metro assistant Chris Armas.
9) May 14, 2005: Chicago 0, MetroStars 3
The MetroStars stunned Chicago at Soldier Field, as Amado Guevara pounced on a turnover and scored the first, and Eddie Gaven got two more for a dominating victory.
8) May 5, 2000: MetroStars 4, Chicago 1
Metro scored early, with Mark Chung tallying just four minutes into the match. It was over by the end of the half, as Steve Jolley and Clint Mathis scored their first Metro goals just a minute apart. It ends 4:1 with Adolfo Valencia hitting a penalty for the final margin.
7) June 22, 2002: Chicago 0, MetroStars 1
In a scorching day in Naperville, Tim Howard played an amazing match, stopping Fire attack after Fire attack. In the 81st minute, Rodrigo Faria scored the lone goal of the match. Howard's heroics were not over as he had to be at his best to preserve the victory.
6) March 27, 2010: New York 1, Chicago 0
Just an opening season win? It was much more than that. Joel Lindpere scored the first goal ever at Red Bull Arena, ushering a new era of winning Metro soccer.
5) September 11, 2015: New York 3, Chicago 2
Midway through the first half, Metro was down two, but woke up with a fury. Before the break, Sacha Kljestan found Bradley Wright-Phillips, and Lloyd Sam found Mike Grella, evening the game. Kljestan would win it on a late penalty kick, giving Metro key points on their chase for the Shield (see below).
4) May 31, 2005: MetroStars 2, Chicago 1
With a big crowd staying after the England-Colombia friendly, the Metros started lackadaisically and went down on a penalty kick. John Wolyniec evened it in the 76th, heading in an Guevara free kick. Then, late in stoppage time, Abbe Ibrahim caused a turnover and gave the ball to Guevara. "El Lobo" hits it, and the ball curved, curved, curved into the corner for a terrific win.
3) September 30, 2000: MetroStars 2, Chicago 0
The King returned as Mike Ammann, not fully recovered for his injuries, came back in the playoffs. The Metros, completely dominated by the Fire just four days earlier, dominated one themselves. Chung and Valencia scored and Ammann posted the first shutout in Metro playoff history as the series was evened. Let's not talk about the game that followed.
2) October 25, 2015: Chicago 1, New York 2
Somewhat anticlimactic, when compared to the one two years prior, but Metro did take its second major trophy ever by going to Chicago and winning where they rarely do (their first road triumph over the Fire since the aforementioned game in 2005). BWP opened the scoring, Kljestan added a PK, and Metro held on for the Shield.
1) October 27, 2013: New York 5, Chicago 2
Chicago went up early, but Thierry Henry responded with a wonder goal, and Metro poured it on in the second half, with goals by Ibrahim Sekagya, Sam, Eric Alexander, and Johnny Steele. Mike Petke held up the Shield, with Henry's "18 years" echoing through Red Bull Arena. Still the most glorious day in this franchise's history.
|
