Goals by forwards Clint Mathis and Alex Comas gave the MetroStars a 2-0 victory over recently crowned 2001 European and German Bundesliga champion Bayern Munich in a Saturday night exhibition at
Giants Stadium. Bayern Munich fielded a starting lineup who averaged nearly 19 appearances in their victorious Bundesliga campaign. Mathis netted the first goal in the 36th minute. Bayern
defender Michael Tarnat attempted a pass to a teammate on the back line, but Mathis was there to intercept it. The Conyers, Georgia native, the only forward pressuring at the time, then used a
delightful chip to loft the ball over goalkeeper Bernd Dreher, who almost managed to get his fingertips on the ball. Comas almost doubled the lead in the 43rd minute when Steve Shak sent in a cross
from the right side. The Colombian raced to the ball but his glancing header was deflected by Dreher into a corner. Off the ensuing corner kick, Shak, in the center of the box, knocked the ball on
goal but Dreher, again called into action, made the save. The MetroStars got on the board again a few moments after Shak's opportunity. Pedro Alvarez fed Mark Chung on the left flank and the winger
sent in a perfectly weighted cross into the box. Comas was there to snap a header down to the lower right corner of the goal, past a helpless Dreher. Mathis, MLS' leading scorer, could have opened
the scoring even earlier in the contest. In the 25th minute he beat the offside trap on a pass from Comas but he lofted a 25-yard shot over Dreher which bounced just wide of the left post. The
MetroStars had another dangerous scoring opportunity in the 35th minute, one minute before Mathis' goal. Comas was picked out on the right side of the box but his close-range shot from the right
corner of the six-yard box was saved by Dreher. The home team was also the most dominant in the second half. Chung hit the right side of the crossbar in the 52nd minute. Chung would later hit the
woodwork again when he struck the upper left corner of the goal on a violent right-footed shot from 15 yards out in the 85th minute. In two other near-miss opportunities second-half substitute
Petter Villegas even dribbled by Dreher in the middle of Bayern's box but the goalkeeper recovered just as Villegas was about to take a shot into an open net. In the 82nd minute substitute Rodrigo
Faria also had just the 'keeper to beat when he beat the offside trap and ended up going one-on-one against Dreher. But the MLS rookie's shot finished wide right. Bayern's offensive initiatives of
the first half were limited to a 34th minute diagonal shot from Roque Santa Cruz that went wide left and a Tarnat strike from outside the box which went wide right. First half goalkeeper, Tim Howard,
was timely in coming off his line and his second-half substitute, Paul Grafer was secure in the one dangerous Bayern opportunity on a Alexander Zickler header in the 81st minute.
MetroStars 2
Bayern Munich 0. Goals: Mathis 36, Comas (Chung, Alvarez) 43.
Bayern Munich -- Bernd Dreher, Michael Wiesinger (Slawomir Wojciechowski 70), Ciriaco Sforza, Stefan Effenberg, Thorsten
Fink, Michael Tarnat (Thomas Henke 84), Hasan Salihamidzic, Owen Hargreaves, Alexander Zickler, Paulo Sergio, Roque Santa Cruz. Yellow cards: Sforza 49, Hargreaves 84, Salihamidzic 90.
MetroStars -- Tim Howard (Paul Grafer 46), Steve Jolley, Mike Petke, Mark Semioli, Pedro Alvarez, Richie Williams (Martin Klinger 88), Tab Ramos (Petter Villegas 46), Mark Chung, Steve Shak,
Clint Mathis (Orlando Perez 70), Alex Comas (Rodrigo Faria 74). Yellow card: Petke 42. Referee: Noel Kenny. Attendance: 30,253.
