2:2 New York Montreal Carmona Choiniere(OG) Martinez 2 07.17.24 · League

The first half was pretty damn perfect. Sure, Metro's lead was only one, but they completely dominated. Montreal had no shots; hell, they barely entered Metro's side of the field. This one was gonna be over...

And then the floodgates opened, as we sat through a two our delay. At the end, Metro was reduced to ten men and was lucky to survive with a 2:2 draw, its fourth straight one-pointer, and sixth in seven games.

After last weekend's experiment. Sandro Schwarz went back to the usual 4-4-2. Early in the game, Dante Vanzeir pounced on a goalkeeper clearance, but blasted high at the unprotected net. Later in the half, Metro muffed a three-on-two when Lewis Morgan did not pass to an open Vanzeir, perhaps understandingly. Wiki Carmona hit the post off a follow-up from a corner, and Vanzeir missed another open net off a free kick.

The goal came in the 18th minute, after Dylan Nealis won the ball on the right side and quickly sent through Carmona. The Venezuelan took a step and sent a low long shot into the bottom right corner.

The second half was played in a downpour, with Ronald Donkor taken off at the break after injuring himself in warmups. Perhaps it was that lack of central midfield depth or the wicked weather... but Metro just wasn't the same. Still, Montreal did not look like they would score, until the 67th minute, when they got a free kick just outside the box. The shot bounced of Carmona at the right side of the wall and into the net.

Metro keep pushing, and eight minutes later got the lead again. A Cameron Harper corner was inadvertently knocked in at the far post by Montreal's Mathieu Choiniere. Alas, moments later, a really stupid foul by Sean Nealis in the box was converted to a red card by VAR. Carlos Coronel guessed right on the PK, but could not get to the ball.

From that point on, Metro tried to hold on to the point, through whatever was left in regulation and eight excruciating minutes of injury time. Montreal did put another ball in the net five minutes in, but it was thankfully ruled offside. Then, a Morgan rush on the other end saw him hit a shot from an impossible angle... and off the woodwork.

The transfer window opens tomorrow. Enough of these ties!

Lineup: Coronel, Duncan, Eile, Nealis, Nealis, Edelman, Donkor, Carmona, Harper, Morgan, Vanzeir. Subs: Gjengaar, Manoel, Reyes.