2:1 New York Orlando Clark Casseres van der Water 05.29.21 · League

Aaron Long: injured. Andres Reyes: brain-dead ejection. Amro Tarek: still Amro Tarek. Who will start in central defense? The answer was Tom Edwards. The right back shifted to the middle, and somehow it worked, as Metro earned a 2:1 win over Orlando. The game was not as close as the final score indicated.

With Edwards' shift, Kyle Duncan was moved back to his usual right back slot, and John Tolkin got his first ever start on the left. Patryk Klimala got his first start up front at the expense of Fabio.

Metro opened the scoring in the 35th minute, as Edwards won the ball and sent it forward to Sean Davis. The captain found Caden Clark, who swung it into the penalty area and Klimala. The Pole took a touch and, with a defender on him, sent the ball back the other way. Clark ran onto it on the back post to score in his fourth consecutive home game.

The second goal came in 60th. A foul right outside the box meant that... wait, really? Cristian Casseres? Has he ever taken a free kick so close to goal? Well, Casseres took one today and skillfully placed it over the wall into the upper left corner.

If the script of the first two home wins was to be followed, that should have been it. And for a while, it looked like it was: Orlando could not muster anything going forward, the makeshift defense held...

Until the 84th minute, when a rare Orlando foray into the penalty box led to Silvester van der Water beating Carlos Coronel through the five-hole. And then, a few minuets later, the same attacker was left all alone in the box with nothing but the entire net to shoot at... and shot it into the stands.

Thankfully, that was it for Orlando's attack. Metro did not have much trouble hanging on the rest of the way and ran off deserved winners. Tolkin needs to be praised at well, as he was terrific on the left, defending, going forward, and even taking set pieces. The only concern is Frankie Amaya's injury that forced him to leave the game late in the first half...

Please no makeshift midfield, okay?

Lineup: Coronel, Tolkin, Nealis, Edwards, Duncan, Davis, Casseres, Amaya, Clark, Royer, Klimala. Subs: Yearwood, Fabio, Fernandez, White.