Inter Miami advances in U.S. Open Cup with 3-1 win over Tormenta FC, but Neville unhappy
For weeks now, Inter Miami coach Phil Neville has been warning his team about “banana skin” games in the U.S. Open Cup. Neville, a native of England who played many FA Cups, is quite familiar with single-elimination tournaments and knows that favored teams often slip and lose to hungry lower-tier teams.
So, the moment the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 draw was released, Neville had a hunch his team was in for a challenge against South Georgia Tormenta FC, a third-division team from Statesboro, Ga., a town of 30,000 residents.
He was right; but Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender made a handful of big saves to stave off the upset-minded visitors and then the offense came to life to clinch Miami a Round of 16 spot with a 3-1 victory that ended with both teams short a man.
Despite the win, Neville was unhappy and “embarrassed” after the game. He felt his team didn’t take its opponent seriously enough.
“We’re in the next round, that’s the only thing we can take from this, I thought the performance was totally unacceptable,” Neville said. “Full credit to the opposition. They played fantastic, deserved to win the game, deserved to be in the next round with their attitude and performance, particularly in the first half.
“We had players who got opportunities tonight after banging on my door asking for opportunities and tonight we saw why they haven’t been playing and why they won’t play on Saturday. They dropped their standards. You can’t just think you can show up and roll over a team that’s highly motivated and has an outstanding coach.”
Tormenta had gone a USL-record 653 minutes without conceding a goal heading into Tuesday’s game at DRV PNK Stadium. That streak ended in the 45th minute when a streaking Lassiter got his left foot on the end of a nice pass by Indiana Vassilev in the box and knocked it in for his first goal of the season.
The scoring sequence began when Tormenta lost the ball in midfield, Inter Miami took advantage on the counterattack and Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuain found Vassilev in the area. Vassilev just re-joined the team on loan from Aston Villa last Thursday. He played for Miami last season.
Higuain, Inter Miami’s highest paid player, returned to the starting lineup for the first time since April 2 after missing five of six games with a knee injury and thigh contusion.
Tormenta dominated play much of the first half with seven shots, four on target compared to five and just one on target for Miami.
Lassiter’s goal took the wind out of the Tormenta’s sails.
“It knocked the stuffing out of them,” Neville said. “I looked to the right and their coach...he could’ve been four of five up and was down 1-nil at halftime. It totally changed the complexity of the game, but we got embarrassed. We had international players on the pitch in the first half, players we invested a lot of money in and I thought they were by far the better team and that’s why it’s unacceptable. I told the players that and I don’t take much joy from winning this game.”
Neville made two halftime substitutions: Robinson for Higuain and Victor Ulloa for Emerson Rodriguez.
Robinson wasted no time making an impact. He pounced on a Tormenta defensive error and scored from the right side in the 47th minute to give Miami a 2-0 lead.
But Robinson’s shift was cut short in the 65th minute when he was ejected with a red card after an altercation with Tormenta’s Jake Dengler, who also was sent off. Lassiter had fouled a Tormenta player and Robinson and Dengler, neither of whom was involved in the play, got into a double headlock and wrestled each other to the ground.
“I saw a red card incident, a center back and center forward got into a little bit of a melee, it got a little bit messy and left the referee no choice but to send them off,” Neville said. “I’m disappointed that Robbie had just scored and we put him on there to play center forward and get goals and minutes. And he then gets himself sent off, misses the next U.S. Open Cup game.”
Lassiter gave Miami a 3-0 cushion with an 83rd minute goal on a breakaway.
“It wasn’t our best performance, but the important thing is we won and on the individual side for me I’m happy to finally put two in the back of the net,” Lassiter said. “Hopefully I can do it on the weekend (against D.C. United) as well. Seeing the ball go into the frame gives me confidence going forward.”
Tormenta finally got on the scoreboard in the 88th minute when forward Kazaiah Sterling got past 17-year-old Miami defender Noah Allen, who had just come in as a late-sub. Sterling is a 23-year-old England native of Jamaican descent who was once a promising prospect at Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.
Miami’s starting lineup had many changes on Tuesday.
Leo Campana had supplanted Higuain as the starting center forward and made national headlines by scoring a hat trick against the New England Revolution and four goals over a five-game span. But the Ecuadorean forward was left off the game roster on Tuesday night.
Campana suffered a slight foot injury last week and was rested as were starting midfielder Jean Mota and starting goalkeeper Nick Marsman, who is dealing with a back injury. Mo Adams started in place of Mota and Callender stepped in for Marsman for the second game in a row. Ryan Sailor had sore hamstrings and was also held out.
Callender was called on early in the game as the Tormenta, feeling confident after back-to-back upset wins in the previous Open Cup rounds, went on the attack from the opening whistle. Tormenta finished the night with 14 shots, 13 from inside the box. Miami had seven total shots.
“These games are never easy,” Lassiter said. “Sometimes the stadium might not be full, or it might not feel like a high pressure game, but with the experience I have, I know they are not easy. You have to prepare even more for these games. Tormenta’s a good team and luckily we were able to put away our chances because they had quite a few.”
This story was originally published May 10, 2022 at 11:04 PM.