Alan Gordon and Justin Meram are on a roll.
Both strikers weren’t touted as goal scoring machines heading into 2012, but they've proved their worth recently -- to San Jose and Columbus respectively – with goals flying in from all angles.
GOAL: Meram curls in beauty
And the stats don’t lie. Gordon and Meram -- both of whom are riding three-game scoring streaks -- are second and fifth, respectively, in the goals/90 minutes category. Of players having played over 90 minutes, they are one and two. Gordon has four goals in 184 minutes this season, averaging out to 1.96 goals per game. Meram is averaging 1.37 goals per game, after scoring three times in his four appearances this term.
Gordon and Meram traded spectacular goals in the recent 1-1 tie between San Jose and the Crew and both haven’t stopped there. Meram’s opportunistic header against Seattle on Wednesday helped seal a shock 2-0 win at CenturyLink Field. However the biggest shock of the night came when San Jose staged a dramatic late comeback against the Galaxy when, you guessed it, Gordon grabbed a 93rd minute winner, as San Jose found themselves 2-0 down with 15 minutes to play.
GOAL: Gordon stuns Galaxy
Veteran forward Gordon has been making a habit of coming off the bench to create late havoc all season. His winner was his third goal in his last three appearances. All of those tallies have come after the 88th minute and the bruising striker has scored four times off of just 10 shots in 2012. Gordon’s clutch goals have secured four extra points for San Jose in the process, after he came off the bench to clinch equalizers against Chivas USA and Columbus in consecutive 1-1 draws.
As for Meram, the second-year striker has excelled after appearing in the Crew’s last four games, scoring three times, and is yet to taste defeat in canary yellow. Meram marked his first start of 2012 with a superb curling effort from distance -- which was nominated for goal of the week along with Gordon’s equalizing scissor kick -- against San Jose. In 17 appearances for Columbus in 2011 Meram failed to find the target.
This term he is proving much more deadly in front of goal, so is Gordon.
