Inter Miami routed 5-1 by Austin, which set MLS record with 10 goals in first two games
Inter Miami arrived at Austin FC’s Q2 Stadium on Sunday afternoon eager to build off its season-opening scoreless tie against the Chicago Fire.
Instead, Austin exploited a shaky Miami defense and dominated the visitors for a 5-1 win in the first meeting between the nascent clubs.
Argentine forward Sebastian Driussi and recently signed Ethan Finlay of Minnesota scored two goals each and Austin FC continued its blazing start to its second season. Austin won last weekend’s game 5-0 over Cincinnati. Its 10 goals are the most by a single team over its two first matches in MLS history.
Inter Miami, meanwhile, in its third season, has lost six of its past seven road matches dating back to 2021. Coach Phil Neville and his revamped team head home with lots of work to do before next Saturday’s home game against Los Angeles FC.
“I’m really disappointed,” Neville said. “We know we’ve got some new players that are going to take some time to jell, and we’ve got to learn on the job. There’s no protecting them. We’ve got all the confidence and belief in them. Another steep learning curve for us. This league teaches you lessons when you don’t concentrate, and you lose discipline.”
Austin scored two goals in a four-minute span in the middle of the first half to take a 2-0 lead.
First, in the 22nd minute, Driussi ran to the back post for a crossing pass off the end line by Diego Fagundez, who had gotten behind Inter Miami’s 17-year-old left back Noah Allen. Driussi leaped and scored on a first-time volley, calmly placing the ball into the bottom left corner of the net past Miami goalkeeper Clement Diop.
Four minutes later, Zan Kolmanic sent a pass deep into the box and onto the head of unmarked Julio Cascante, who knocked it in. Miami was missing center back Damion Lowe, the captain of Jamaica’s national team, who is expected to miss another 10 days with an injured groin.
“We got to halftime two-nil and we concentrated on how we could get back in the game,” Neville said. “I felt we just needed one goal.”
Neville made halftime changes, switching from five in back to four, which made the team more attack-minded and allowed Brek Shea to slide to his more preferred left back position. He took out Allen and put in forward Leo Campana to join the front line with Gonzalo Higuain and Ariel Lassiter. He also replaced midfielder Mo Adams with Robert Taylor, who arrived from Finland less than 10 days ago and is expected to add creativity to the offense.
But Austin made it 3-0 in the 51st minute after intercepting an errant pass by Miami defender Christopher McVey. Miami captain Gregore tried to clear the ball in front of the net, but Driussi got his foot on it and scored to pile on Austin’s lead.
Inter Miami finally got its first goal of the season two minutes later when Campana converted an assist from Higuain, placing the ball low past Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver.
“We got the goal I thought would take us forward with some really good play by Robert Taylor, Lassiter, Campana, Gonzalo started to cause problems and we just needed composure,” Neville said. “We were 200 miles an hour, too rushed and we got punished again with two goals off our two poor mistakes. We need to rectify some of the things we did.”
The gap grew the three again in the 64th minute when Austin captain Alex Ring’s pass landed on the head of Finlay, who directed it past Diop. Finlay would score again in the 90th minute as “Los Verdes” Austin FC fans went wild.
Austin and Miami were the lowest-scoring teams in MLS last season. Austin has 10 goals through two games, Miami has one.
“Full credit, you score 10 goals in two games that’s a tremendous feat, but probably seven or eight poor defensive errors in both games,” Neville said. “Not taking anything away from Austin. They were decisive and clinical and invested heavily in that part of the pitch. I felt we have created chances, but [Sunday] we did not stick to what we’ve been working on all week, shape, discipline and compactness.”
Gregore apologized to Inter Miami fans.
“We all feel the pain of this loss, but we can’t feel sorry for ourselves,” Gregore said. “We have to turn the page and try to get our first three points against LAFC.”
This story was originally published March 6, 2022 at 8:38 PM.