Misfiring Metro settles for tie with Nashville, 0:0
June 15, 2024
When Metro and Nashville play each other, you know goals are going to be sparse. In fact, the only tally in the last four meetings was the injury time penalty kick that unexpectedly sent Metro to the playoffs in last year's finale. There would be no such heroics tonight.
Just like they did in the season opener, Metro dominated Nashville on the field, but could not find the back of the net, settling for a scoreless draw. Well, they did find the back of the net... three times, in fact. None of them counted.
The first came midway through the first half off a corner kick that Noah Eile headed into the net. It was rightfully called back for goalkeeper interference. Later in the first, it looked liked Dylan Nealis got his first league goal, after he pounced on a rebound of a Dante Vanzeir shot and slotted it into the bottom right corner of the net. Alas, VAR decided that Nealis the Younger played the ball with his hand, and the game remained scoreless. With 20 minutes left in the game, it was Elias Manoel's turn to get his goal nullified. This time his blast did not count because of offside.
On the defensive end, Metro was pretty much perfect. Nashville was completely impotent in the first half. They did drop two balls behind the Metro defense early in the second, but failed to place a shot on a goal on either opportunity. Ryan Meara had to make just once save for probably the easiest shutout of his career.
Metro played without Emil Forsberg, rested after international travel, and Lewis Morgan, who watched Scotland get trashed by Germany from the bench. So, on one side, it was alright to see an offense that was not stilted like it was a week ago. On the other hand, this team is clearly lacking finishers (called back goals be damned), and Morgan is bound to miss at least the next two games.
Of course, having no finishers on the team besides Morgan is something that we've been harking on the last three years...
Lineup: Meara, Tolkin, Nealis, Eile, Nealis, Edelman, Amaya, Carmona, Harper, Manoel, Vanzeir. Subs: Burke, Gjengaar.
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