Struber's Metro dominates Armas' Toronto, 2:0
May 8, 2021
No matter what happens, Chris Armas and Gerhard Struber will forever be linked in Metro lore. Despite dragging Jesse Marsch's marvelous side to the Supporters Shield, the former's tenure in New Jersey is not exactly looked at with fondness. The mid-pandemic complete collapse of the offense that eventually led to his dismissal does not exactly shine bright on the resume.
Today, Armas returned to Red Bull Arena for the first time, hired by former boss (and notorious pants splitter) Ali Curtis. And just like many of his Metro teams, Toronto proved incredibly inept offensively, as Struber's side came out with an easy 2:0 win.
Struber made only one change from last week, replacing Tom Barlow with Brian White. The first half was a mostly even affair, with Armas employing the deep press to give the Metro defense some nervy moments. Carlos Coronel didn't help either, electing to pass straight down the middle to lead to an interception and a Toronto opportunity.
Metro scored in the 32nd, with Caden Clark causing a turnover on the left flank. He took the ball forward and crossed it into the box to Fabio. The Brazilian laid it back, and Frankie Amaya, sitting just above the penalty area, slotted a shot through the box into the bottom left corner for his first Metro goal. A few minutes later, Fabio could have doubled the lead, but muffed a Cristian Casseres cross with an empty net in front of him.
The second goal came in the 69th, when a long Coronel clearance found Dru Yearwood at the center stripe. The Englishman took it forward and sent a ground ball into the box, where Toronto goalkeeper Alex Bono tried to keep it away from an onrushing Fabio. The ball popped loose, and Clark pounced on it to make it 2:0.
You might remember Armas' teams when playing from behind, often unable to penetrate offensively. This was the case today, only they were wearing Toronto's jerseys. Just like last week when up two, Struber's team put on a defensive clinic, controlled the midifled, and had their share of chances. (Fabio deciding to go through a defender as opposed to passing to a wide-open Daniel Royer was not exactly the best decision.) Nevertheless, the third goal was not needed, as Metro emerged deserving 2:0 winners.
On, and in case Armas was counting, the shot totals were New York 11, Toronto 5. Clearly, Metro was the better team!
Lineup: Coronel, Gutman, Long, Nealis, Duncan, Davis, Casseres, Amaya, Clark, White, Fabio. Subs: Royer, Yearwood, Fernandez, Harper, Tolkin.
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