New York failed to scrape out a win in a relatively even match against its rival DC United Saturday night, ending up with a single point taken from a 0-0 draw.  Although DC sat at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with 11 points coming into the match, Metro simply couldn’t create chances against a well organized team.  Despite the match being what head coach Hans Backe considered “rather boring”, there is some positive to take away from it for the hosts.  Last night’s result, combined with the 2-0 away win over United earlier in the season, earn New York the coveted Atlantic Cup, its first since 2003.

The Atlantic Cup, which is a highly contrived and meaningless competition created by the league and awarded to whichever team has a better head to head record, is a major victory for Metro.  I am sure it will be immediately placed in the trophy case/garbage can that contains the La Manga Cup, the Mickey Mouse Cup, and the somewhat legitimate Western Conference Championship trophy.

The match was a bit tough to watch, especially after a month full of high quality World Cup games.  There was little attacking play and even less creativity.  Metro trotted out a familiar lineup.  Bouna got the start in goal, with Borman, Mendes, Ream, and Albright in front of him.  Lindpere, Sinisa, Stammler, and Richards played midfield while Angel and Salou started at forward.  The backline had a good game, with Carlos Mendes continuing to improve after his return from injury.  Unfortunately, the midfield and forwards did not play as well.  New York managed to keep possession, but chances for either team were a rarity.

“Two well organized teams, defensively. It (the game) never really opened up with any big chances.  For us I would say that we, a little bit too easily, let them get into shape.  Too many backwards passes when we could turn.  Too many side passes, too many back passes… It was a rather boring nil-nil game.”- Hans Backe

Macoumba Kandji, who has missed a solid chunk of time through injury, made his return, and was just as ineffectual as the rest of the team.  He didn’t exactly light the world on fire at the beginning of the season but it is good to see another attacking option back on the pitch.  This was the kind of game which seemed destined to be boring from the opening kick, and the extreme heat and long World Cup layoff probably didn’t help.  Still, it is clear that no matter how strongly Metro started the season, they could certainly use some reinforcements during the summer transfer window.

It may not have been the dominant rivalry win that New York fans were hoping for, but at least they managed a point out of the match.  Metro probably had enough possession to justify winning but it is hard to score when you don’t create chances.  A point is a point, and knowing that the DC fans that traveled to Red Bull Arena didn’t get the satisfaction of returning home with a win should be comforting to New York fans.

Dave Braneck is a blogger and an all around soccer fan who represents North Jersey to the fullest and contributes to Dailyharrison.com

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