10-man Metro loses to Chivas by only one, 1:0
April 5, 2018
One mistake... all it took was one mistake. An errant pass, a rush the other away, and all of the sudden, Metro was down. And then: nothing. Nothing for the rest of the game, a defensive shutdown, and yet, that nothing was not enough because of that one mistake...
Jesse Marsch switched back to the lineup that beat Tijuana, with the lone change being the re-insertion of previously suspended Sean Davis for Florian Valot. This meant a five-man backline with three central defenders.
The mistake came in the 26th minute, with most of the Metro team upfield on a free kick. An errant pass by Tyler Adams in the center circle was intercepted by Chivas, and the Goats rushed the other way. Adams could do little to prevent a 2-on-1, and even though Luis Robles came out of the net bravely, Isaac Brizuela slotted it in from the top of the box. One mistake...
Well, there were other mistakes, such as the one an hour in when the referee missed a clear handball in the box by Chivas. It was an obvious redirection with the hand, a textbook penalty, and yet, the whistle stayed silent, and Metro stayed down.
And then, Bradley Wright-Phillips was sprung, had a fantastic touch to keep the ball, and, just when you thought this was it, the equalizer, with only the goalkeeper in front of him, hit it right at the Mexican. So that was also a mistake...
As was Aurelien Collin's lunge in the middle of the field that earned the Frenchman a second yellow, leaving Metro with 10 men in the 73rd minute. The defense bravely held the rest of the way.
So, a 1:0 deficit going into the home leg the next week, with the potential of dreaded away goals rearing their ugly head yet again. Well, we'll see. Nothing is impossible in this scenario. Let's just hope for one fewer mistake.
Lineup: Robles, Lawrence, Parker, Long, Collin, Murillo, Adams, Davis, Muyl, Royer, Wright-Phillips. Subs: Valot, Etienne.
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