What to know as Inter Miami plays home game against D.C. United on Saturday night
Inter Miami has won five of its past seven games, but two of those were U.S. Open Cup victories over lower-league teams, including a 3-1 victory over South Georgia Tormenta FC on Tuesday night.
The sobering reality heading into Saturday’s home game against D.C. United is that Miami is coming off back-to-back road losses at Charlotte and New England and finds itself in 13th place in the Eastern Conference standings, one spot shy of last place. Miami’s minus-10 goal differential is tied for worst in the league.
But coach Phil Neville has seen enough in his revamped squad to remain optimistic that better times are ahead. After a sluggish start against Tormenta, Inter Miami righted itself and dominated the second half with two goals by Ariel Lassiter and one by Robbie Robinson.
The attack should get a boost as forward Leo Campana, who had supplanted Gonzalo Higuain in the starting lineup before sustaining a slight injury last week, is expected to be back for Saturday’s game (8 p.m., My33).
“I was really emotional, frustrated and angry at halftime [on Tuesday] because in the seven previous games, every game I saw a certain level of performance and attitude and I felt we dipped below that [on Tuesday],” Neville said. “We joked at training on Thursday that maybe one every seven games we can allow 45 minutes of that even though I don’t like it. Every now and again you suffer. We’ve made a lot of [roster] changes, and I have to take responsibility for that.”
He liked the resolve he saw in his players, saying last year’s Inter Miami team “would have lost by five.”
Neville has challenged his team to take control of Saturday’s game from the opening whistle. D.C. United has shown new life since the signing of Greek national team forward Taxi Fountas last month after going through a coaching change and a long losing spell early in the season.
Fountas scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Houston Dynamo and scored a pair of first-half goals and had an assist in a 3-2 win over New England.
“We’re playing against a team with new a coach, a team that’s had a bounce, signed really good forward players in good form..this is going to be a difficult game,” Neville said.
D.C. should be well rested as interim coach Chad Ashton chose to rest most of his starters for the midweek U.S. Open Cup game, which they lost 3-0 to the New York Red Bulls.
Miami might still be missing goalkeeper Nick Marsman (back) and center back Aime Mabika (hamstring). Defender Joevin Jones, who missed nine months after knee surgery, should get more playing time.
“It’s all about getting my confidence back and momentum and finishing the season strong,” Jones said. “I’m happy, feeling like my life is back, on the pitch with my bros again, playing in front of amazing fans. The squad has a lot of competition. I have to keep on working hard and wait for the right moment to take my opportunity.”
This story was originally published May 13, 2022 at 2:57 PM.