Bumbling Metro badly blows it to Cincinnati, 2:1
July 12, 2023
There are games this year when you almost can see Metro as a competent team: the defense can hold its own, most of the midfield is somewhat competent, and the attackers... well, if the attackers can get it together... If only everyone got healthy... If only the borderline call went the other way... If only we added that one missing piece...
It should be clear to anyone after tonight that this team is rotten to the core. No, it's not just the result, a last-minute 2:1 loss to Cincinnati. It's the way they went at it, playing as incompetent an offensive game as we've seen all year (and remember, that includes Gerhard Struber's reign of shutouts), and blowing the lead late after Carlos Coronel let a saveable ball go through his hands.
The goal? Well, Metro did get a goal, but not from a run of play, but rather from a rather lucky deflection. In the 28th minute, Kyle Duncan had the ball hit a defender's upper arm, and Omir Fernandez buried the penalty kick. And that was it for Metro's offense for the entire game. Their lone shot on goal.
Despite the offensive ineptitude, Metro could have easily taken some points. All they had to do was play their usual solid defensive game, and... Well, not with a team rotten like this. And while Cincinnati was somewhat lucky to get a VAR-assisted penalty in the 80th, after what looked like a harmless tackle from Duncan, the horror happened three minutes into injury time. Metro failed to clear the ball, an easily saveable shot somehow eluded Coronel's outstretched arms, and...
And there is just no other way to say. This team is simply not good enough. They can scrap some points together and flirt with the playoffs, but what's the ceiling here? A first-round playoff exit once again?
At this point, we'll be lucky to see that.
Lineup: Coronel, Duncan, Nealis, Ndam, Harper, Amaya, Edelman, Fernandez, Luquinhas, Barlow, Vanzeir. Subs: Nocita, Carmona, Stroud.
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