A minor miracle: Metros win at home
August 25, 2002
The MetroStars FINALLY won a home game, beating DC Scum 1:0 on a Clint Mathis goal twp minutes into injury time. Coming into the game losing four of last five at home and playing atrocious defense, the Metros thwarted the punchless DC attack and used a perfect Rodrigo Faria cross onto onrushing Mathis to earn the win.
For the second week in a row, the first half ended scoreless with not much advantage going either way. Mathis and Mamadou Diallo started together for just the second time this season, but Mathis was later moved back into midfield to accommodate Faria.
Diallo earned a penalty kick six minutes into the second half after being taken down in the DC Scum box. Unfortuantely, for the second time in a row, his PK was saved, this time Nick Rimando guessing correctly. (Note to Diallo: stop going right of the keeper, or try a corner next time.)
After the missed penalty kick, the Metros could not create much, and Tim Howard had to make an amazing save in the 59th minute, punching the ball over the bar in the last second. The game looked to be going into overtime, but in the 92nd minute, the much-maligned Craig Ziadie won the ball, passed it to Andy Williams on the left wing, who found Faria, whose perfect cross found the not-so-mohawked-yet-mustached Mathis, who beat Rimando at the right post as the crowd went wild.
The win gives the Metros a nine-point lead over DC Scum with five games left, two against the same Scum. The shutout was Howard's fourth of the year.
Lineup: Howard, Chronopoulos, Petke, Jolley, Ziadie, Moore, Paule, Williams, Mathis, Faria, Diallo. Subs: Akwari, Davis.
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