Metro's depth shivers Timbers, 4:0
March 10, 2018
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Mines
Wright-Phillips
Rivas 2
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22 years ago, a man named Giovanni Savarese, #17, scored on his Metro debut. Of course, it was not only his debut; it was the whole team's. Metro lost, but Savarese continued to score into the record books and into the hearts of the supporters.
Today, Savarese returned to face his old club as the head coach of the Portland Timbers, but it was the home team that stole the headlines. A man young man named Ben Mines, #17 (and just 17 years old!) scored on his Metro debut. The floodgates opened late, as Metro ran out its regular season opener as 4:0 winners.
With the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinal coming up, Jesse Marsch went with depth. Luis Robles (of course) remained, as did Sean Davis (he is suspended for the CCL game). The rest of the lineup saw Connor Lade, Aurelien Collin, Fidel Escobar, Kyle Duncan (just signed yesterday), Vincent Bezecourt, Mines, Derrick Etienne, Alejandro Romero Gamarra (his first start), and Carlos Rivas.
Mines' moment of magic came in the 18th minute. Off a turnover in midfield, Etienne got the ball to Romero, operating on the left of the box. Kaku then sent a perfect diagonal cross to the far post, that Mines connected with for a euphoric opener.
Metro easily contained Portland for most of the first half, but the Timbers got their legs in the second. However, Robles, who made 13 saves in the CCL, was only tested once, making a spectacular save to push the ball out of the bottom corner.
Tyler Adams and Bradley Wright-Phillips entered in the 64th, and good old BWP doubled the lead in the 77th. Off a corner kick, Davis headed the ball toward the Englishman, who in turn headed it in. Three minutes later, Rivas put the game out of reach when he received a long Bezecourt through ball and tucked it from the right side into the bottom left corner. Rivas made it a rout in injury time, with BWP feeding an onrushing Lade, who, in turn, centered to the unmarked Colombian for an easy finish.
So, a terrific way to start the regular season, and a fantastic performance from the supposed second string. And Mines... well, we don't know if he will reach Savarese levels yet... But the night is young!
Lineup: Robles, Lade, Collin, Escobar, Duncan, Bezecourt, Davis, Mines, Romero Gamarra, Etienne, Rivas. Subs: Adams, Wright-Phillips, Long.
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