Metropolitan Oval
Time: 11am
----- match report by Kevin Gordon
Gotham Argo continued their winning streak with a 2-0 victory over SC Eintracht , despite having only ten players available, and no keeper. Cold rain began to sprinkle down in the hour before the game, and by kick-off you would be forgiven for thinking that we were in northern England. Though both teams, especially Argo, moaned and groaned before kick-off, once the game started, both teams came out hard.
Argo, fully aware of their one-man disadvantage and lack of a recognized keeper, played it safe for the first part of the game. Cruise, who stepped up for the first shift in goal, was vocal in the back, and kept the defense tight and organized. Although Eintracht had more of the ball in the early stages, Argo harried and hassled their opponents, and Eintracht were rarely able to get a shot off. Even a man down, though, Argo was not afraid to try and hit Eintracht on the break. Demian, playing in a lone striker role, could always be relied on as an outlet. Though double teamed for most of the game, he was still able to hold up the ball long enough for Argo to come forward in numbers.
For much of the first half, Argo had the better of the chances, but Eintracht could have opened the scoring midway through the half. An Argo counter broke down, and suddenly the two center backs found themselves out of position as the Eintracht forward nicked the ball in the center circle. The full backs tried to cover, but could not get there before the Eintracht player tried to hit a placed shot in the lower left corner. Cruise, who’d gone down to his right, still managed to poke the ball away with his toe, and it fizzled out for a corner. But Cruise’s work was not yet finished. The in-swinging corner was goal bound, threatening to sneak into the upper right corner, but Cruise punched the ball to safety. After a little bit of pin-ball inside the box, Argo cleared their lines. As it turned out, they had ridden out the only two clear Eintracht chances.
The goal that opened the scoring seemed to come out of nothing. In the final ten minutes of the half, Argo brought the ball forward down the left. Dominique received the ball outside the box and attempted to drive to goal. Though he beat the first defender, he was crowded out and the ball was poked out from under his feet. However, it fell kindly to Damian. Within seconds, three Eintracht defenders surrounded him and it seemed as though the chance was lost. Twisting and turning, Damian managed to find himself a yard of space, enough to swivel and burry the ball in the lower right hand corner of the Eintracht goal past a diving keeper.
Argo were content to sit back and keep their lead for the few remaining minutes of the half, and were able to go into half time with a 1-0 lead. Experienced midfielder James Whiteley gave a rousing half-time team talk and the Argos returned to the pitch and Eric took over from Cruise in goal.
The majority of the second half was all Argo. Eintracht, frustrated at going a goal down against ten men, could not find a way to get past the hard working Argo side, and they were never able to worry Eric’s goal. On one occasion, Eric did have to be alert, as a miscommunication almost allowed an Eintracht player through on goal, but Eric smothered the ball just in time. Much of the game was played in the middle third as neither side was able to dominate possession.
Midway through the half, Kevin Gordon received the ball on the left flank, just inside the Eintracht half. The Eintracht defenders, knowing Gordon’s tendency to try and cut in from the left, tried to force him down the touchline, which proved their undoing. With a quick burst of pace, he was away down sideline, and the covering midfielder was unable to get there in time as Kevin drove into the box. He considered the shot, but the Eintracht sweeper was quickly closing down his angles, so he opted to flick the ball to Demian, who’d made the run towards the top of the box. As usual, three defenders converged on him, but he managed to wriggle away from them. Unable to cope with Damian’s skill, one of the defenders brought him down clumsily. A penalty was awarded and the defender received a red card for his troubles. Damian unselfishly gave the spot kick to Cruise, who beat the keeper to double the Argo lead.
For a few minutes, both sides played with ten men, but it didn’t last long. Damian was involved in a bit of shoving inside the Eintracht box in the eighty-second minute. Both players received a yellow, and for Damian, who’d already been booked for dissent, it was a red. He’d played his part, though, and though Argo was pinned into their half and had to ride out a late flurry of Eintracht corners, they were good for their lead and for their shutout.
Though they lost the top spot in the Metro 2 division to Homenetmen NY (on goal difference), this quality team performance by Argo has solidified their position as favorites for the title come June—Argo has played two games fewer then Homenetmen and already beaten them twice.
SC Eintracht 0-Gotham Argo 2 (Tkach, Cruise [pen])
Man of the Match; shared by Cruise and Eric, for stepping up and playing in goal.
Posts
