Inter Miami remains winless through five games after 3-1 soggy home loss to Houston
Stormy weather delayed the start of the Inter Miami home game against the Houston Dynamo for two hours on Saturday night. The soggy fans who waited it out left disappointed shortly after midnight as Miami remained winless through five games after a 3-1 loss.
Miami dropped to 0-4-1 and is the only winless team left in the Eastern Conference.
The team has been outscored 13-3 this season and two of its goals have come from penalty kicks, including the lone goal Saturday in the 66th minute by Gonzalo Higuain.
Miami outshot Houston 22 to 11 but couldn’t finish, which has been a common theme thus far this season. Coach Phil Neville heard the smattering of boos at the final whistle and said he understood the supporters’ pain. Among the fans in the crowd were team co-owners David Beckham and Jorge Mas.
“I have to say, this is as disappointed as I’ve felt,” said Neville. “We came back out from the rain delay and the atmosphere was incredible, felt like a Cup final, they were all so, so behind us. I’m suffering because I want to deliver for those guys because they don’t go home. They stay through the lightning, the thunder, the torrential downpours, and they support us. I’m feeling their pain. It hurts me immensely when I hear them at the end because we deserve that, and they deserve better.”
Inter Miami got two big early stops from goalkeeper Nick Marsman, who returned to the starting lineup for the first time since injuring his knee at the end of last season. The team moved the ball well in the first half and created 11 scoring chances, the two best from Robbie Robinson, who shot too high, and Robert Taylor, who received a back-heel pass from Higuain and fired a shot that went just wide.
But neither resulted in a goal and the game remained scoreless at halftime.
“My frustration is that we had 11 shots on goal in the first half and weren’t ruthless enough,” Neville said. “And then you go out in the second half and get punished by two poor mistakes. We’ve got to be more ruthless in our attack. We’ve invested a lot in the attack.”
Houston, which had not won on the road in 26 straight games, was led by two goals from Fafa Picault, a Haitian-American who spent his teen years in South Florida and attended Coral Reef High and Killian High. The Dynamo’s first goal came in the 49th minute on a Darwin Quintero header just in front of the net.
Picault made it 2-0 eight minutes later on a penalty kick after Marsman and Miami defender Damion Lowe had a miscommunication, which resulted in Marsman fouling Quintero in the box. Miami got back into the game with Higuian’s PK after Robert Taylor was fouled in the box. But the offense sputtered for much of the second half and Picault sealed the win with goal in stoppage time.
Neville was pleased to get Robinson back into the starting lineup after a hip injury had kept him out of action since the early preseason. “Robbie has looked sharp all week, he was good in 1-to-1 situations, now we need that delivery, we need the goal at the end of the run, the goal at the end of the dribble,” Neville said.
Robinson said he and the other attackers need to be more composed in front of the goal and take an extra touch or make an extra pass.
“If we had finished three of our chances, you guys wouldn’t be asking me these questions” Robinson said. “We’d be fine and celebrating. It all comes down to finishing. That’s how you win a game, you score. Simple as that.“
Inter Miami is back home on April 9 against New England Revolution and then plays on the road at Seattle.
“The win feels close, but so far away,” Neville said.
This story was originally published April 3, 2022 at 1:48 AM.