Inter Miami loses 1-0 to Red Bulls. Neville blasts VAR, calls for ‘massive investigation’
Inter Miami, clinging to playoff hopes and playing with a depleted roster, went down early on the road against the New York Red Bulls and fell short 1-0 on Saturday night.
It was Miami’s fifth loss in a row and third straight by a 1-0 score. The team, which has the fewest goals in the league, has been outscored 12-1 over the past five games and its only shot on target came in the 96th minute.
Gonzalo Higuain appeared to score the equalizer in the 61st minute, but it was disallowed for offside. The video review confirmed it was the correct call. Higuain waved his arms around wildly and complained. He personified the team’s frustration and inability to put the ball in the back of the net in recent weeks.
After the game, Miami coach Phil Neville blasted the league’s VAR system, and called for a “massive investigation’’ into calls against his team. He also complained last Sunday after a goal against Portland was disallowed for a foul.
“We got cheated in Portland and we’ve been cheated [Saturday night],” Neville said. “I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but something is fundamentally wrong with the way referees treat Inter Miami. We’re playing in one of the best leagues in the world, and I’m having a great experience, but I’ve got a dressing room that’s asking real, real questions about the integrity of this league in terms of the decisions we keep getting.
“We’ve had our integrity questioned this year. We got stones thrown at us and had to take a lot of [expletive] and when you do wrong you accept it. I hope I don’t come across as a bad loser. Congratulations to New York Red Bulls. But I’m sick and tired of receiving emails on Mondays saying, ‘Sorry, the calls could have gone the other way.’ ”
He clarified by saying he had no issue with Saturday’s referee Tori Penso.
“I thought the referee had a really good game, an outstanding female official has been let down incredibly by the VAR system,” he said.
The coach went on to say his players were so upset that none of them would be available for postgame interviews.
Before the game Neville said: “The team that wins this game will think, ‘We can make the playoffs.’ The team that loses have got a mountain to climb.”
Miami has a mountain to climb.
With six games to go, Miami remains in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, eight points shy of CF Montreal for the seventh and final playoff spot. The Red Bulls are in ninth place, three points away from the playoff line.
Although Miami is not mathematically eliminated, it will take a string of wins and some losses by other teams to get it to the postseason.
Miami knew coming in that it faced a massive challenge. The Red Bulls had dominated Miami 4-0 at home a few weeks ago, and on Saturday Miami was without five players — including four starters.
Left back Christian Makoun was on duty with the Venezuelan national team. Center back Nico Figal stayed home with a calf strain, midfielder/captain Gregore was out after a head injury, midfielder Victor Ulloa missed his sixth game with a thigh injury and left back Kieran Gibbs had a hamstring strain.
Miami was so thin that it qualified for an MLS “Extreme Hardship” call-up, which allowed the club to add 6-6 defender Aime Mabika from its USL Fort Lauderdale team. Mabika, a draft pick from the University of Kentucky, made his first MLS start in place of Figal.
Mabika rose to the occasion, was active all night and made some heads-up plays as the high-pressing Red Bulls got numbers in the box time and again.
“He was sensational,” Neville said of Mabika. “I thought it was one of the best defensive performances I’ve seen all season. A young boy made to play MLS level, composure on the ball, defensive ability, strength, everything you want from a footballer.”
New York got its game-winning goal in the 25th minute from Patryk Klimala. Miami defender Kelvin Leerdam made a weak pass from the back that was intercepted by New York, Klimala got between Mabika and Leandro Gonzalez Pirez and left-footed the ball past Miami goalkeeper Nick Marsman.
The Red Bulls finished the night with 12 shots, four on goal. Miami had seven shots, one on goal. Other than Higuain’s offside goal, Miami’s best chance came in the 16th minute, when Higuain sent a perfect through ball to Robbie Robinson, whose shot was deflected by New York defender Kyle Duncan. It was Inter Miami’s 13th scoreless game of the season.
Neville sent in substitutes Indiana Vassilev, Julian Carranza, Sami Guediri and Federico Higuain to replace Blaise Matuidi, Robinson, Shea and Leerdam. Vassilev got the team’s only shot on goal — a header — in stoppage time and it was saved by Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos.
The last time the teams met, in Fort Lauderdale on Sept. 17, the Red Bulls dismantled Miami 4-0 to kick off a six-game unbeaten run. New York is 4-0-2 over those games and has allowed just two goals. Inter Miami, meanwhile, has lost every game since that night.
Inter Miami is back on the road for the fourth game in a row next Saturday against the Columbus Crew before returning home Oct. 20 to play Toronto FC.
This story was originally published October 9, 2021 at 9:16 PM.