Marvelous Morgan marshals Metro to first win, 2:1
March 2, 2024
Lewis Morgan is back! Metro's talismanic attacker, who spent almost the entirety of last season injured, was back to his old form. Still not fully fit, he entered the game midway through the first half, and made his presence felt. First, he started the sequence that led to the equalizer. Then, he blasted home the winner, as Metro beat Houston 2:1 to give Sandro Schwarz his first win in charge.
Schwarz was forced to make one change from last week, as John Tolkin returned from his own injury for now-injured Kyle Duncan. The hosts scored just seven minutes in, as a ball got behind the Metro defense. Daniel Edelman, tracking back, missed, and Houston's Ibrahim Aliyu didn't.
Metro settled in, but when Emil Forsberg hit yet another crossbar on a free kick, it seemed like last week's scoreless story would repeat itself. Then, off a corner, a perfect pass from Frankie Amaya found Sean Nealis... only for a reaction save to keep the game scoreless.
Morgan came in for an injured Peter Stroud in the 34th, and turned the game around nine minutes later. He caused a turnover in midfield and started the sequence that ended with Dante Vanzeir finding Elias Manoel's head on the doorstop. The Brazilian's wistful header ended up in the net, as he became the 29th first scorer in Metro's 29 seasons.
In the 59th, it was Morgan's turn to get on the scoresheet, as he pounced on an awful pass in Houston's side of the field. The Scotsman took a touch to the edge of the box, then blasted one into the upper corner to give Metro its first lead of the year.
Metro held on for dear life late, settling on a pioneering 5-5-0 lineup. Manoel blew a potential breakaway, Carlos Coronel made a couple of big saves, and a ridiculous eight minutes of injury time trickled out without too much trouble. Metro got its first win of the season... and, amazingly, its first in the piss yellow jerseys, which went winless all of 2023.
Welcome back, Lewis!
Lineup: Coronel, Tolkin, Nealis, Eile, Nealis, Edelman, Amaya, Stroud, Forsberg, Manoel, Vanzeir. Subs: Morgan, Harper, Reyes.
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