Metro survives Atlanta with a scoreless draw
June 27, 2021
MLS sure has evolved over the years, from budgets to stadiums to fans numbers to style of play. And yet, once in a while we hit a game where it seems that the clock was set back a good two decades. In a drab, disjointed, joyless, uninspiring match Metro tied Atlanta 0:0 to earn its first road point of the year.
Wiki Carmona got his first start as Frankie Amaya went to the bench, and Tom Barlow was given an appearance at the expense of Fabio. And it was Carmona who caused Metro's only good change of the first half, when he jumped on an errand back pass and centered the ball to Patryk Klimala. Unfortunately, the Pole's shot was saved.
Metro's best chances of the second half both came off the foot of Kyle Duncan. First, the defender took it on the endline and into the box, but instead of shooting or passing to Fabio, somehow sent the ball to nowhere. Then, he cut into the box for a well-taken shot, only for it to be saved by Brad Guzan.
Atlanta could not offer anything going forward until its turf claimed two victims. First Andres Reyes and then Tom Edwards had to be taken out due to injury, and then home team took advantage late in the game. Their best chance came off a corner, when Carlos Coronel, frozen in disbelief, was bailed out by his goalpost. He had a fine game otherwise, earning his fourth shutout of the season.
And yeah... that's pretty much it. Not exactly one for the record books. Oh, and speaking of taking the game back two decades: Do Atlanta fans realize that all their songs are recycled from the MLS songbook of the late 1990s? Of course, they don't...
Lineup: Coronel, Tolkin, Nealis, Reyes, Duncan, Edwards, Yearwood, Davis, Carmona, Klimala, Barlow. Subs: Fabio, Amaya, Tarek, Fernandez, Harper.
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