Metro survives dumb red and Whitecaps, 1:1
April 27, 2024
Two weeks ago, we witnessed one of the stupidest red cards in team history, when Andres Reyes struck a player in a dead ball situation. Tonight, Noah Eile did him one better. Metro, who crawled back to tie Vancouver 1:1 midway through the second half, had to hold on for dear life to preserve the point for the third straight tie.
With Frankie Amaya questionable, Sandro Schwarz had no choice by to play Wiki Carmona in central midfield (and Dennis Gjengaar in Carmona's usual slot), which proved to be a disaster. The young Venezuelan was absolutely clueless how to play the position, losing the ball in dangerous places and not tracking back when needed.
Vancouver scored on their first real attack of the game, in the 15th minute. Metro left space open in the box, John Tolkin was caught between two attackers, and a cross found -- who else -- Brian White on the doorstep. The former Metro could have rubbed salt in the wound soon after, when he found himself on a breakaway and tried to beat Carlos Coronel through the legs. Thankfully, the Metro keeper's sizable attributes kept the margin at one.
Early in the match, Lewis Morgan forced a double-save from the Vancouver keeper. Later in the half, Tolkin found himself on a breakaway, but chose to go wide, muffing the chance. Despite those chances, the first half was a disjointed affair, with Metro rarely looking as well as they had for the most of the year.
That changed after the break, as they keep seeking the equalizer. They got it in the 56th off an Emil Forsberg corner. The ball was muffed by the keeper, bounced in the box, and Morgan headed it in at the far post. 1:1, and Metro had the momentum.
That momentum evaporated in the 74th, when Eile, defending just outside the box, saw the ball fly over his head. The gargantuan defender... threw up his hand to swat the ball away. Why he did that is anyone's guess, as there was no imminent danger. Yes, Eile had a man on him, but the ball would have just sailed over, where he still had the angle to defend it. As it stood, it was as obvious a red card as one will ever see... and incredibly, inexcusably baffling one at that.
Down a man, Metro tried to hold on for the rest of the game, including an excruciating seven minutes of injury time that included a wonderful jumping save from Coronel. At the end, a 1:1 scoreline was probably a just result, keeping the unbeaten streak going... it's just that we need to start turning these ties into wins.
And we need to stop the idiotic red cards.
Lineup: Coronel, Tolkin, Nealis, Eile, Nealis, Edelman, Carmona, Gjengaar, Forsberg, Morgan, Vanzeir. Subs: Harper, Manoel, Amaya, Duncan, Burke.
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