1:1 New York (4:5) Pachuca Manoel Rondon 07.30.24 · L Cup

So long, Leagues Cup! We hardly knew you. For the second straight game, Metro tied at home. For the second straight game, they hit on their first four penalty kicks. For the second straight game, they couldn't score after that, so they are out. Oh well. Now we have 25 empty days to ponder the rest of the season.

And they actually played well! For the first 45 minutes, they absolutely dominated CONCACAF Champions Cup winners Pachuca. The visitors could barely venture into Metro's half of the field. Metro didn't score either, but it wasn't for the lack of chances. A close Elias Manoel shot was kept out, a Dante Vanzeir cross was almost redirected into the net by a defender, with a Ronald Donkor follow-up cleared off the line, Vanzeir again, doing great to create separation from two defenders, only to fail on the shot...

A minute into the second half, Metro got theirs. Daniel Edelman stole the ball and sent it to Lewis Morgan, who found Manoel in the box. The Brazilian's banger burned a hole in the net.

Alas, that made Pachuca wake up. Nine minutes later, after their attacked had two hands on Kyle Duncan, the moronic referee decided not to call the foul. A cross was sent, a shot was hit, and beat Carlos Coronel to the bottom corner.

Both teams had chances to win, with Coronel making a good save in injury time, so to the penalties we went. Metro had to win to keep its Leagues Cup hopes alive... but you know the story. Noah Eile, Sean Nealis (you see, Sandro, Sean Nealis scores penalties!), Wiki Carmona and Manoel all scored, but Pachuca responded in kind. Then, Morgan, usually so reliable, missed the net wide. Pachuca missed the net high, so Metro was still alive. Sadly, Dylan Nealis decided to be cute with it and shot it weekly down the center of the net. The goalie stayed put, Pachuca scored on their end, and that was that.

It's fine. Leagues Cup can rot in hell, for all we care. But having no games for a month is rather annoying. Maybe Red Bull brass is gonna use that time to get us a real striker!

Yeah, right.

Lineup: Coronel, Duncan, Nealis, Reyes, Nealis, Edelman, Donkor, Carmona, Morgan, Manoel, Vanzeir. Subs: Eile, Gjengaar. Shootout: Eile, Nealis, Carmona, Manoel, Morgan, Nealis.