Inter Miami ends unbeaten run at five matches after 3-1 road loss to the Red Bulls
Inter Miami suffered a setback in its push for the playoffs Saturday, losing a first-half lead and two of its most important players in a road defeat to the New York Red Bulls.
A 10-man Inter Miami side had its five-match unbeaten run snapped on Saturday night, falling 3-1 to the fourth-place Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena. Gonzalo Higuain opened the scoring for Inter Miami in the first half with a sizzling free kick, but a 29th-minute VAR red card to Alejandro Pozuelo changed the course of the game in favor of the Red Bulls.
The loss left Inter Miami just above the playoff line in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. The South Florida side sits on 36 points with seven games left in the season.
“I am really disappointed, angry, frustrated,” Inter Miami coach Phil Neville said after the match. “We have not suffered many defeats so this one is a tough one to take. We have got to bounce back very quickly.”
Rebounding in Wednesday’s pivotal road game against the eighth-placed Columbus Crew, which tied rival FC Cincinnati 2-2 on Saturday night, will not be easy. Pozuelo will miss the midweek match due to suspension, and star striker Higuain is likely going to be out too with a calf injury sustained in the opening half Saturday.
“He went off because he could hardly walk in the dressing room after the game. That is why he went off,” said Neville of the halftime decision to replace Higuain with Emerson Rodriguez. “Studs right down the back of his calf, referee did not give a foul, and they went up the field and scored.
“That is why he went off, and he will be a major doubt for Wednesday.”
Higuain stayed red-hot with his seventh goal in Inter Miami’s past nine league matches, unleashing a ferocious 19th-minute free kick to the top right corner to push Inter Miami in front.
The joy was short-lived, as Pozuelo was sent off 10 minutes later for an unintentional high kick on former Inter Miami centerback Andres Reyes. Pozuelo turned acrobatically to bring down an aerial ball, but his extended left foot smashed into Reyes’ torso.
Head referee Fotis Bazakos initially pulled out a yellow card for the Spanish midfielder, but changed his mind and issued a red after going to the VAR monitor to look at the incident again.
“I thought it was totally innocent,” Neville said. “I thought the ball was coming over his shoulder. ... I thought a yellow card would have been probably — I have no complaints with the red because obviously the foot was up, but I thought it was purely innocent.”
“No complaints for the red card,” added Neville. “No complaints because I think if I phoned [Professional Referee Organization general manager] Howard Webb on Monday morning I think he would say, ‘Well, Phil, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,’ like they always do and there is no point.”
Reduced to 10 men, Inter Miami lost control, and that opened the door for former Inter Miami winger Lewis Morgan to tie the score for the Red Bulls two minutes before halftime with a low, left-footed shot.
Daniel Edelman and Caden Clark added goals for the home team in the 53rd and 74th minutes, with the second of those second-half tallies coming four minutes after Red Bulls right back Kyle Duncan was given a second yellow card. Duncan was dismissed for a high challenge on Christopher McVey.
Inter Miami nearly cut the deficit in half when playing on even terms, but centerback Damion Lowe was denied twice by Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel. Lowe, who served as a striker in the dying minutes, hit a header right at Coronel before being denied by a kick-save on a 1-on-1 opportunity in stoppage time.
Inter Miami now must attempt to bounce back without its two most experienced attackers when it visits the Crew in a midweek match with major playoff implications. The Eastern Conference table remains tight and crowded, with four points separating fifth place from 11th.
“Missing one or two players on Wednesday will only weaken us a little bit because we have got real quality to come in,” said Neville. “It is time for these [substitute] players to step up.”
This story was originally published August 28, 2022 at 12:54 AM.