diff --git a/spring-cloud-gateway-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/gateway/filter/GatewayMetricsFilter.java b/spring-cloud-gateway-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/gateway/filter/GatewayMetricsFilter.java
index 3788b32d..11ac4981 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-gateway-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/gateway/filter/GatewayMetricsFilter.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-gateway-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/gateway/filter/GatewayMetricsFilter.java
@@ -19,8 +19,6 @@ package org.springframework.cloud.gateway.filter;
 
 import static org.springframework.cloud.gateway.support.ServerWebExchangeUtils.GATEWAY_ROUTE_ATTR;
 
-import java.util.Arrays;
-
 import org.springframework.cloud.gateway.route.Route;
 import org.springframework.core.Ordered;
 import org.springframework.http.HttpStatus;
@@ -29,7 +27,7 @@ import org.springframework.http.server.reactive.ServerHttpResponse;
 import org.springframework.web.server.ServerWebExchange;
 
 import io.micrometer.core.instrument.MeterRegistry;
-import io.micrometer.core.instrument.Tag;
+import io.micrometer.core.instrument.Tags;
 import io.micrometer.core.instrument.Timer;
 import io.micrometer.core.instrument.Timer.Sample;
 import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
@@ -44,17 +42,18 @@ public class GatewayMetricsFilter implements GlobalFilter, Ordered {
 
 	@Override
 	public int getOrder() {
-		return NettyWriteResponseFilter.WRITE_RESPONSE_FILTER_ORDER - 1;
+		// start the timer as soon as possible and report the metric event before we write
+		// response to client
+		return NettyWriteResponseFilter.WRITE_RESPONSE_FILTER_ORDER + 1;
 	}
 
 	@Override
 	public Mono<Void> filter(ServerWebExchange exchange, GatewayFilterChain chain) {
 		Sample sample = Timer.start(meterRegistry);
-		return chain.filter(exchange).then(Mono.fromRunnable(() -> {
+
+		return chain.filter(exchange).doOnSuccessOrError((aVoid, ex) -> {
 			endTimerRespectingCommit(exchange, sample);
-		})).doOnError(t -> { // needed for example when netty routing filter times out
-			endTimerRespectingCommit(exchange, sample);
-		}).then();
+		});
 	}
 
 	private void endTimerRespectingCommit(ServerWebExchange exchange, Sample sample) {
@@ -69,7 +68,6 @@ public class GatewayMetricsFilter implements GlobalFilter, Ordered {
 				return Mono.empty();
 			});
 		}
-
 	}
 
 	private void endTimerInner(ServerWebExchange exchange, Sample sample) {
@@ -93,9 +91,8 @@ public class GatewayMetricsFilter implements GlobalFilter, Ordered {
 			}
 		}
 		Route route = exchange.getAttribute(GATEWAY_ROUTE_ATTR);
-		Iterable<Tag> iterableTags = Arrays.asList(Tag.of("outcome", outcome),
-				Tag.of("status", status), Tag.of("routeId", route.getId()),
-				Tag.of("routeUri", route.getUri().toString()));
-		sample.stop(meterRegistry.timer("gateway.requests", iterableTags));
+		Tags tags = Tags.of("outcome", outcome, "status", status, "routeId",
+				route.getId(), "routeUri", route.getUri().toString());
+		sample.stop(meterRegistry.timer("gateway.requests", tags));
 	}
 }
diff --git a/spring-cloud-gateway-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/gateway/filter/GatewayMetricFilterTests.java b/spring-cloud-gateway-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/gateway/filter/GatewayMetricFilterTests.java
index 7c77ba64..46a957c9 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-gateway-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/gateway/filter/GatewayMetricFilterTests.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-gateway-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/gateway/filter/GatewayMetricFilterTests.java
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 package org.springframework.cloud.gateway.filter;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.springframework.boot.test.context.SpringBootTest.WebEnvironment.RANDOM_PORT;
 
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -29,7 +28,6 @@ import org.springframework.boot.SpringBootConfiguration;
 import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.EnableAutoConfiguration;
 import org.springframework.boot.test.context.SpringBootTest;
 import org.springframework.boot.test.web.client.TestRestTemplate;
-import org.springframework.cloud.gateway.config.GatewayProperties;
 import org.springframework.cloud.gateway.route.RouteLocator;
 import org.springframework.cloud.gateway.route.builder.RouteLocatorBuilder;
 import org.springframework.cloud.gateway.test.BaseWebClientTests;
@@ -44,7 +42,6 @@ import org.springframework.test.annotation.DirtiesContext;
 import org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringRunner;
 import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
 import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;
-import org.springframework.web.reactive.function.client.ClientResponse;
 
 import io.micrometer.core.instrument.MeterRegistry;
 
@@ -55,9 +52,6 @@ public class GatewayMetricFilterTests extends BaseWebClientTests {
 
 	private static final String REQUEST_METRICS_NAME = "gateway.requests";
 
-	@Autowired
-	private GatewayProperties properties;
-
 	@Autowired
 	private MeterRegistry meterRegistry;
 
@@ -66,11 +60,7 @@ public class GatewayMetricFilterTests extends BaseWebClientTests {
 
 	@Test
 	public void gatewayRequestsMeterFilterHasTags() throws InterruptedException {
-		assertThat(this.properties.getDefaultFilters()).isNotEmpty();
-		ClientResponse clientResponse = webClient.get().uri("/headers").exchange()
-				.block();
-		assertEquals(HttpStatus.OK, clientResponse.statusCode());
-		Thread.sleep(1000); // allow metrics to complete in the mono following the then
+		testClient.get().uri("/headers").exchange().expectStatus().isOk();
 		assertMetricsContainsTag("outcome", HttpStatus.Series.SUCCESSFUL.name());
 		assertMetricsContainsTag("status", HttpStatus.OK.name());
 		assertMetricsContainsTag("routeId", "default_path_to_httpbin");
@@ -80,12 +70,8 @@ public class GatewayMetricFilterTests extends BaseWebClientTests {
 	@Test
 	public void gatewayRequestsMeterFilterHasTagsForBadTargetUri()
 			throws InterruptedException {
-		assertThat(this.properties.getDefaultFilters()).isNotEmpty();
-		ClientResponse clientResponse = webClient.get().uri("/badtargeturi").exchange()
-				.block();
-		assertEquals("Expecting request to fail with http status internal server error",
-				HttpStatus.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR, clientResponse.statusCode());
-		Thread.sleep(1000); // allow metrics to complete in the mono following the then
+		testClient.get().uri("/badtargeturi").exchange().expectStatus()
+				.is5xxServerError();
 		assertMetricsContainsTag("outcome", HttpStatus.Series.SERVER_ERROR.name());
 		assertMetricsContainsTag("status", HttpStatus.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR.name());
 		assertMetricsContainsTag("routeId", "default_path_to_httpbin");
@@ -96,11 +82,11 @@ public class GatewayMetricFilterTests extends BaseWebClientTests {
 	public void hasMetricsForSetStatusFilter() throws InterruptedException {
 		HttpHeaders headers = new HttpHeaders();
 		headers.set(HttpHeaders.HOST, "www.setcustomstatus.org");
+		// cannot use netty client since we cannot read custom http status
 		ResponseEntity<String> response = new TestRestTemplate().exchange(
 				baseUri + "/headers", HttpMethod.GET, new HttpEntity<>(headers),
 				String.class);
 		assertThat(response.getStatusCodeValue()).isEqualTo(432);
-		Thread.sleep(1000); // allow metrics to complete in the mono following the then
 		assertMetricsContainsTag("outcome", "CUSTOM");
 		assertMetricsContainsTag("status", "432");
 		assertMetricsContainsTag("routeId", "test_custom_http_status");