A group of New York/New Jersey MetroStars fans made the trip to Saturday night’s match against the Fire at Soldier Field and unfurled a banner that read:
No Mathis, no clue.
But the MetroStars’ fall from grace happened well before the June 5 injury to leading scorer Clint Mathis. The last time the Metros (6-6-3) won a Major League Soccer match was May 16, going 0-4-2 with just two goals entering Saturday. Despite the recent rough patch, the MetroStars entered the match with the same 21 points as the Fire.
The Fire (7-3-3) wasted little time extending its Central Division lead. David Hayes, a call-up from Milwaukee in the A-League scored, his first MLS goal in the third minute, and the Fire turned in a methodical 3-1 victory in front of a crowd of 15,274.
Jesse Marsch and Dema Kovalenko also scored.
With Chris Armas off with the national team, DaMarcus Beasley just back from the under-20 team and Justin Evans sent to Dallas in a trade Saturday, Hayes started on the left side of the midfield. Evans was dealt to Dallas for future considerations.
Hayes was in the right place at the right time when Peter Nowak’s shot was deflected by Orlando Perez and fell right to Hayes’ feet. Hayes then sent his shot past Tim Howard. Although it was Hayes’ first MLS goal, he’s not unfamiliar with the experience–he has 12 goals as Milwaukee’s leading scorer. Except for a moment when Martin Klinger’s shot was fumbled by Zach Thornton and Klinger sent his rebound wide, the MetroStars seemed barely interested in the first 45 minutes. Saturday night’s match was their second of five straight MLS games on the road and three days after suffering a 4-1 pasting at the hands of the A-League’s Charleston Battery Wednesday in their first Open Cup match.
The MetroStars showed bit more intensity in the second half. Thornton made a sprawling save of an Adolfo Valencia shot in the 66th minute and barely kept Klinger’s shot out of the net three minutes later.
The visitors finally broke through in the 84th minute when Billy Walsh ran onto a Daniel Hernandez free kick for a tap-in.
