Inter Miami dominates Atlanta United in front of diehard fans, but settles for 1-1 tie
For two months they banged their drums, set off pink smoke bombs, danced and sang their hearts out from behind the parking lot gates at Inter Miami Stadium. They even cheered through torrential downpours, of which there have been several.
Finally, Wednesday night, the most passionate and dedicated Inter Miami fans – 360 members of the official supporter groups -- were invited inside the stadium for the first time as a thank you for their loyalty during this tumultuous inaugural season.
Perhaps energized by the festive atmosphere, Inter Miami dominated Atlanta United all night, outshot the visitors 21-3, but had to settle for a 1-1 tie.
Both goals were scored in the final 10 minutes.
“It’s very, very difficult to play better than we did...it is frustrating because we clearly deserved to win,” said coach Diego Alonso. “When you lose concentration for one moment, you can lose a game where you play so well. We had 21 shots to 3, this should have been a win for us. It’s hard to explain. All we can do is hold our heads high, believe and have confidence in each other...football cannot keep being this unfair to a team playing this well.”
Alonso said he hesitated to make substitutions because everyone was playing at a high level. He used only two of his five available subs.
Brek Shea came off the bench in the 77th minute and three minutes later put Miami on the board with a left-footed shot from the left side of the six-yard box to the bottom left corner. Lewis Morgan provided a perfect cross.
Miami players swarmed Shea, fans celebrated, and surely presumed that would be the winning goal.
The fans, who took over the North stands, belted out chants in Spanish, including one familiar all over Latin America: “Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole, Ola, Cada dia te quiero mas! (every day I love you more)
But Atlanta ruined the party three minutes later. Miami had a defensive breakdown, which has been a common trend after scoring goals this season, and Jake Mulraney was left alone in the box. He knocked in an easy shot from the center of the box to tie it up 1-1.
It was a crucial game for Miami, which was seeking a third win in a row and a chance to leapfrog Atlanta into playoff position in the Eastern Conference standings with six games remaining. Entering the game, Miami was in 12th place with 17 points and Atlanta was in 10th with 18. The top 10 advance to the playoffs.
With a point apiece from Wednesday’s game, Miami did not gain any ground.
Miami remains in 12th at 5-10-3. Atlanta remains at 10th with a 5-9-4 record.
“We’re disappointed,” said midfielder Wil Trapp. “For 80 minutes we played extremely well and two minutes after we score we have a lapse in concentration and they score. And honestly, they had another chance to win the game, which would have been a real detriment to our performance. It’s concentration. We had 10 minutes left and we missed three plays...the whole group has to take responsibility for what happened.”
Inter Miami controlled the tempo of the match from the opening whistle, dominating possession, connecting on crisp passes, and outshooting Atlanta 11-0 before intermission. Argentine star Gonzalo Higuain found space in the box and took seven of those shots, three of them on target.
Miami kept firing at the Atlanta goal in the second half. Lewis Morgan left-footed a shot from a direct free kick, but missed to the left. Matias Pellegrini’s shot from the center of the box went high. Pellegrini missed another shot wide right a few minutes later. Defender Nico Figal cranked a 35-yard shot that Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan saved in the top right corner.
And so it went.
Through 70 minutes Miami had 19 shots on goal to one for Atlanta, but nothing to show for it.
And then, in the 80th minute, just after coming off the bench, Shea scored. Shea had played for Atlanta last season, so the goal was particularly special for him.
Miami “relaxed” Trapp said, and that proved costly.
“Once you score, the opposing team is the one should be on its heels,” Trapp said. “The posture we need to take is one of being more aggressive, not just ceding possession and field position. That’s where we relaxed. It’s purely mentality...You can see the body language. Instead of, `Whew, we scored’ it should be `Let’s put our foot on their throat and finish this game.”
Higuain wasted no time imposing his game early, taking two shots in the first six minutes. The first, off his left foot, was blocked in the third minute. A right-footed shot was saved by Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan in the sixth minute.
Miami led in possession time in the opening half, 53 percent to 47 percent, and goalkeeper John McCarthy didn’t face any serious threats.
“This is the best 27 minutes of Inter Miami football that I have seen this year,” said T.V. 33 commentator Ray Hudson, the former Miami Fusion coach and Fort Lauderdale Strikers star.
The fans got to see the debut of Higuain’s older brother, Federico, who was traded last week from D.C. United. The brothers had not played together since 2007, when they were with River Plate in Argentina. Federico said before the game that it was always their childhood dream to play on the same team, and they were delighted to get that chance again after spending the past 13 years across the Atlantic Ocean from each other.
Miami is on the road Saturday at Montreal Impact.
This story was originally published October 14, 2020 at 10:13 PM.