4:5 New York Colorado Yearwood Long Morgan Barlow Rubio Rosenberry Warner Barrios Toure 08.02.22 · League

Something is rotten in Harrison. For the second straight game, the once-vaunted defense broke down to allow five goals. No, a regular season loss to Colorado doesn't sting as much as the Open Cup ouster, but... what? They allowed five goals to a terrible Colorado team? At home? How?

It should not have come to this. The game barely started, Metro was up 2:0, and it looked to be smooth sailing. In the 6th minute, Dru Yearwood's long shot got deflected and end up in the net. Three minutes later, Aaron Long got his head on a perfect Lewis Morgan free kick. Up two! At home! This should have been in the bag!

Colorado got one back in the 21st after bad giveaway by Cristian Casseres, but seven minutes later, Luquinhas got taken down in the box. VAR turned the original red to a yellow, but Morgan's spot kick made it 3:1. Up two! At home! It should have been in the bag!

It wasn't. Colorado made it 3:2 in the 38th from a shot outside the box. But Metro was still in control, until Yearwood was removed for Daniel Edelman early in the second half. The youngster was clearly outmatched, with Colorado now running through midfield as is. Removing Andres Reyes in the 70th did not help either, as the floodgates opened. Colorado scored off a corner kick in the 77th, them piled it on off defensive breakdowns in the 80th and 89th. They actually put another one in the net, but it was correctly called offside by VAR.

Speaking correctly called offside... Down two, Metro somehow got back into the game in injury time, with Tom Barlow slotting home a penalty kick seven minutes in. And then, a ball played behind the defense, and a looping Barlow header that dropped into the net... only to be, yes, called correctly offside. Not VAR consultation or anything; it was clear as day. And that was that.

So what do we have now? A team that has allowed ten goals in two games (13 in three, if you want to take it back). A team that has looked gassed in the second half of those two (three) games. A team that major roster holes which are not being filled. A team that keeps dropping points at home. A team has absolutely no chance to do damage this year.

You are watching, Herr Schneider?

Lineup: Coronel, Tolkin, Long, Nealis, Reyes, Nealis, Yearwood, Casseres, Morgan, Luquinhas, Klimala. Subs: Edelman, Barlow, Harper, Clark.