2:1 New York Philadelphia Ibrahim Angel Le Toux 04.24.10 · League

A pessimist might look at today's 2:1 win over the Philadelphia Worms and say that Metro was lucky to escape with three points, needing a penalty kick and some fortunate bounces to beat an expansion team. An optimist might look at today's win and conclude that reaching 80% of last year's win total after just five games is not that bad, no matter in what shape those wins come.

A pessimist might look at Brian Nielsen and dismiss his ability based on him not seeing much of the ball on his debut. An optimist might look at Brian Nielsen and see flashes of potential, as he did flew up the left flank off the opening whistle, only to have his cross go wasted by his teammates. Besides, let's not forget he just got off the plane two days ago.

A pessimist might look at Salou Ibrahim (Ibrahim Salou?) and see a clumsy, slow player who spends more time on the ground than on his feet. An optimist might look at Ibrahim (Salou?) and see a player whose one positive contribution in the match opened the scoring, as his header in the 50th minute sliced through the Worms' net.

A pessimist might look at Jeremy Hall and conclude that he is not an adequate right back. After all, Hall was beat on the Worms' equalizer, a 59th minute goal by Sebastien Le Toux coming off an Alejandro Moreno cross. An optimist might say that Hall is playing right back only out of necessity, acquitted himself well in other occasions throughout the match, and even contributed an assist with a terrific cross on the Ibrahim goal.

A pessimist might look at the number of missed Philly chances and say that Metro has the Worms' ineptitude to thank for the win. And Philly did blow their share, shooting directly at Bouna Coundoul on a breakaway, then missing the net wide on a number of chances, including on a scramble late off a corner kick that somehow saw the ball drift wide of the net. An optimist might look at those chances and, well, Philly is crap, and move on.

A pessimist might look at Juan Pablo Angel and say that he is missing that special hop, that he is not the same player. An optimist might look at Juan Pablo Angel and say that he's still recovering from his injury, and fine, no goals from the run of play -- but the game-winner from the spot for the second straight week, this one coming in the 67th minute after the Worms' Michael Orozco clearly handled the ball in the penalty area.

A pessimist might look at the 15,000 attendance, and say that a game on a gorgeous day like this should have had a better crowd. An optimist might look at that attendance, and say that it will only get better as the team improves.

A pessimist might look at RBNY's management structure and say that we're run by Austrian overlords who do not understand the American game. A pessimist might look at RBNY's management structure and say that at least we're not run by Nick Sakiewicz.

Tonight, we're optimists.

Really?

Lineup: Coundoul, Miller, Ream, Petke, Hall, Nielsen, Robinson, Lindpere, Richards, Ibrahim, Angel. Subs: Ubiparipovic, Borman, Stammler.