Brek Shea scores first goal in two years, but Inter Miami falls short 2-1 at Orlando
Finally, for the first time since stadiums were shut down by COVID-19 in early March, Inter Miami’s most diehard, spirited fans got a chance to see their beloved team play in person.
Roughly 100 of them, decked in black and pink, packed up vans and cars with drums and flags on Saturday and headed to Exploria Stadium in Orlando, hoping for an Inter Miami victory over state rival Orlando City.
They did not get their wish. Inter Miami scored an own goal and lost 2-1 in a testy game, its seventh one-goal loss of the season. Their record dropped to 2-7-2.
Orlando City, which has lost just one of its past nine games, dominated the first half and had Miami on its heels from the opening whistle. Miami defender Andres Reyes had a bad clearance on a Mauricio Pereyra free kick and it bobbled into the net for an own goal in the 34th minute.
Coach Diego Alonso made halftime adjustments, going with three in back instead of four and bringing in Brek Shea and Dylan Nealis for Victor Ulloa and Mikey Ambrose, who was an early-game sub for Ben Sweat, who left the game after getting knocked in the head. Alonso said Sweat was feeling better by the end of the game.
A rejuvenated Miami team played much better in the second half, creating several dangerous scoring chances. Shea, the 6-3 long-haired former U.S. national team player, tied the game 1-1 in the 65th minute on a leaping, clinical header off a perfect cross from Rodolfo Pizarro.
It was Shea’s first goal in two and a half years.
Shea, a journeyman who played for Orlando City in 2015-16, injured his knee last summer and began this season training with Inter Miami’s USL team, Fort Lauderdale CF. He was brought up to the MLS team on June 25 and has been a strong addition to the left side of the attack.
“Obviously I had been out for quite some time with the injury, so I’m just happy to be back, staying healthy and trying to do my part to help the team,” Shea said. “I’m very frustrated with the result, but there’s some positives to take from it.”
“It was a game of two halves,” Alonso. “I did not like the first half. We were very timid and that’s not us. We threaten when we attack, when we defend, and when we press, and that’s what happened in the second half. The second half was completely different. I am proud of how our team played in the second half.”
Of Shea, Alonso said: “Brek came in and had a positive impact, as he has the previous games. In addition to his goal, he was a threat on the left side.”
Orlando City regained the lead with the eventual game-winner in the 69th minute when Miami’s defenders were caught out of position, leaving an unmarked Pereyra able to fire in a shot that bounced in off the low post.
Inter Miami appeared to have a chance to score an equalizer and get a man advantage a few minutes later when the referee, after a video review, awarded Miami with a penalty kick after replays showed Orlando City’s Rodrigo Schlegel went through Miami forward Julian Carranza’s legs before making contact with the ball to clear it. Schlegel was given a second yellow card, and it seemed he would be ejected from the game.
But after much confusion, the PK was taken away, and Schlegel’s penalty and card were negated because refs ruled there was an offside on Miami.
“It was frustrating for our team to think we’re going to have a PK and the other team is going to get a red card and give us a chance to go ahead and win and it just turned around,” said Shea.
Up to 7,500 tickets (30 percent of the stadium capacity) were made available for the game and the most loyal of Miami’s fans took advantage. Members of all three supporter groups – Southern Legion, Vice City 1896 and The Siege – made the road trip and sat in Section 109 behind one of the goals.
“First and foremost, coming out for warmups and hearing our fans louder than theirs was a really good feeling,” said Inter Miami forward Juan Agudelo. “To see how many people made the trip was amazing.”
The fans were not allowed to bring their drums or any noisemakers into the stadium, but they planned to party in the parking lot and then use their voices once the game began.
“It’s awesome, a dream come true,” said Julio Cesar Enriquez of Miami, a member of the Southern Legion supporters’ group who rode up with in a 15-passenger van. “It’s sad we have to drive four hours to someone else’s stadium to see our team, but we’ll go wherever we have to go.”
Seba Moraga, a co-founder of Vice city, said: “This is a very special moment for us because of the pandemic and everything going in. People need an escape. We traveled here in large numbers to represent our city, our colors and our team.”
Inter Miami was playing its third game in six days, coming off a dramatic 2-1 home win over Atlanta United on Wednesday and a 0-0 tie against Nashville SC last Sunday.
It was the third match between the inter-state rivals. Orlando City (4-2-4) won the first time they played, 2-1 on July 8, in the opening game of the MLS is Back Tournament. Miami won 3-2 in its first home game on Aug. 22.
“After the game, guys were disappointed,” Agudelo said. “We thought we could get something out of the game, thought we were the better team at the end even though we were playing on just two days’ rest, but unfortunately a couple of calls didn’t go our way.”
Miami has a week off before hitting the road again for a Sept. 19 game at Atlanta United. The team is awaiting marquee Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuain, who arrived in South Florida in Thursday night and underwent medical exams. His contract is expected to be finalized this weekend and he could begin training with the team after a 10-day quarantine.
This story was originally published September 12, 2020 at 10:56 PM.