Two late goals drop Cincinnati, 2:0
May 25, 2019
With only 12 minutes left in the game, Metro didn't register a single shot on goal. Not once did they force the Cincinnati goalkeeper to make a save. In fact, they only had five shots total -- all off the foot of Andreas Ivan, all off target (with Ivan, that is obviously the likely scenario). But Metro ended up getting two shots off -- and scored on both of them, winning in Cincinnati 2:0. Luis Robles was gigantic on the other end, with a number of huge stops.
With the midweek game just three days behind them, Chris Armas once again swept through the lineup, leaving only four starters: Robles, Amro Tarek, Sean Davis, and Alex Muyl. The lineup was further complicated when Daniel Royer had to be held out due to muscles tightness.
Robles was called into work early, with a spectacular save on a Fanendo Adi 1-on-1 opportunity. Later in the first half, the Metro goalkeeper just pushed out a long shot from Frankie Amaya. Then, he reached to the sky while backpedaling to keep out an Adi header. (In the second half, Adi got away with elbowing Robles. Must be frustrating!)
Alas, Metro's offense was as impotent as the expansion team's, and the hosts didn't have to call on their goalkeeper to save them. It looked like a scoreless draw might be Metro's best outcome, until the 78th minute. Substitute Alejandro Romero Gamarra pressured on a back pass, and the defender tripped over his own feet. Kaku jumped on the ball, walked into the box, and slotted past Spencer Richey. As we said above, it was Metro's first shot on goal.
The second came in injury time, with more subs combining. (Again, that Armas and his sub pattern!) Omir Fernandez's diving header of a Brian White cross gave the youngster his first league goal. Amazingly, this gave Metro 15 different league scorers on the year already (16 in all competitions).
Obviously, a shootout win on the road is nothing to frown at, especially with so many key players missing. That being said, let's hope there is more creativity in the final third going forward...
Lineup: Robles, Lawrence, Tarek, Parker, Murillo, Davis, Casseres, Rzatkowski, Muyl, Ivan, Barlow. Subs: White, Romero Gamarra, Fernandez.
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