1:0 New York Columbus Tolkin 08.18.21 · League

We gotta be honest here; we didn't think they had it in them. The narrative had to be followed, and there were two possibilities: either Bradley Wright-Phillips will score the deciding goal on his return to Red Bull Arena, or Derrick Etienne. Instead, Carlos Coronel played the game of his life, and John Tolkin scored his first Metro goal as Metro narrowly escaped by a 1:0 margin, ending the winless streak at seven.

Andres Reyes came back to the lineup as Tom Edwards was suspended for yellow card accumulation. Wiki Carmona started for Caden Clark, but perhaps the biggest news was the absence of Dru Yearwood. The Englishman didn't even make the bench, where one spot was left open.

Just three minutes in, Coronel made a terrific stop on a goalmouth opportunity. Four minutes later, it looked like Metro had a chance to open the scoring from the spot, when Patryk Klimala was fouled in the box. Our old friend VAR reversed the call, this time correctly. Metro would have to wait until the 33rd to break through. John Tolkin started the play by winning the ball at the Metro endline. He also finished, after getting the ball from Fabio in the box, then changing his feet past a sliding defender to set up himself for his first as a pro.

Coronel came up huge three more times. Late in the first half, he stuffed Gyasi Zardes on a clear breakaway. Early in the second, he denied Kevin Molino from short range, the same player who was his original victim. Then, midway through the period, our old friend BWP sublimely redirected the ball into the bottom corner, only for Coronel to catch up and keep it out.

Speaking of old friends, Thierry Henry used to say that good teams win games 1:0. For the first time all year, this team did just that... but it's incredibly far from being a good team. Hey, at least they didn't stay true to the narrative.

Lineup: Coronel, Gutman, Tarek, Nealis, Reyes, Duncan, Davis, Tolkin, Carmona, Klimala, Fabio. Subs: Amaya, Barlow, Clark, Royer, Egbo.