3:2 New York Philadelphia Kljestan Wright-Phillips McCarty Herbers Pontius 10.01.16 · League

A few years ago (although it seems like an eternity), a grizzled man roamed the Metro sideline. His name was "Clever" Hans Backe. While not much on strategy, the neck-bearded Swede knew one thing: how to hold a lead. Not once in his tenure did Metro lose a league match where they were at one point ahead. Backe's method? Don't sub.

It looks like Jesse Marsch picked something up from one of his predecessors. There was no two-goal lead tonight, but Marsch and Metro did well enough to preserve the slimmest of margins, beating Philly 3:2 in a back-and-forth game.

There was one change made from last week's lineup, as Daniel Royer picked up an injury in training and had to be replaced by Mike Grella. 15 minutes into the game, Philly got an early advantage with a shot that took a small deflection off the foot of Damien Perrinelle and slipped past Luis Robles.

The goal was the wake-up call that Metro needed, and soon Grella had to be denied by a point-blank save by Andre Blake. In the 44th, Grella's shot that was bound for the upper left corner was tipped over, but Metro took the ensuing corner kick quickly, catching the Worms off guard. The ball found Sacha Kljestan all alone in the center of the box, and he calmly one-timed it into the net.

A minute into the second half, a fantastic through ball from Dax McCarty found Bradley Wright-Phillips. The Englishman raced in and put Metro ahead with his 21st of the year.

In the 55th, Philly got one back when Chris Pontius beat Perrinelle in the air to even the game. Metro was not to be denied; a perfect Chris Duvall cross (he is getting better at these!) saw BWP denied by the woodwork, but a foul in the 66th led to a patented Kljestan free kick. McCarty's orange head met the ball and put Metro in the lead for good. The Worms did get one good chance the rest of the way, but a fantastic Robles reaction save preserved the margin.

As for subs, Marsch's lone change came in the 80th minute. It worked for Backe, right?

Lineup: Robles, Lawrence, Collin, Perrinelle, Duvall, McCarty, Martins, Kljestan, Grella, Muyl, Wright-Phillips. Subs: Veron.