Inter Miami falls 1-0 to the Columbus Crew, falls dangerously close to the playoff line
Inter Miami entered Wednesday above the playoff line, but another defeat during the current three-game road swing left the South Florida side hanging onto the postseason picture by a thread.
Columbus Crew winger Luis Diaz took advantage of a defensive hiccup in the second half, and that was enough to sink Inter Miami in a 1-0 loss at Lower.com Field in Ohio. Diaz made the difference in the 64th minute, capitalizing on some play at the back to fire home a shot at the near post.
The result saw the Crew leapfrog Inter Miami in the Eastern Conference standings, with the Ohio side moving into sixth place with 39 points on the year while Phil Neville’s men fell to seventh, the last above the red line, with 36.
“The defeat hurts,” Neville said. “I did not think we played great, but I did not think they played great either. I thought it was a playoff game. The tension in the stadium, there was a crowd, it was like a chess game at times where they probably spent a lot of time stopping us playing.”
Playing without suspended playmaker Alejandro Pozuelo but with striker Gonzalo Higuain, Inter Miami struggled to get much going in the attack vs. the Crew. The Herons finished with four shots and just one on target, though Higuain came agonizingly close to scoring an equalizer in the final minute of regulation.
That anemic offense threatened to push Inter Miami out of the playoff picture and into eighth place, but the L.A. Galaxy provided a hand by scoring a late tying goal in their midweek match with Toronto FC.
“Every single game we are going to have for the rest of the season is going to be like this,” Inter Miami centerback Ryan Sailor said. “It is going to be every team fighting to get into the playoffs. There are a lot of teams in contention, so I think today showed us that every single game is going to be like that.”
In a game in which Inter Miami was outshot 14-4, Diaz delivered the game-winner for the Crew after racing onto a delightful through ball from Steven Moreira.
Inter Miami’s Swiss army knife Christopher McVey was beaten on the sequence, but fellow defender Damion Lowe had a chance to put out the fire. Lowe failed to recognize the danger, however, and that allowed Diaz to race in untroubled before finishing strongly to the near post past goalkeeper Nick Marsman.
The question as to whether Marsman or Drake Callender is now Inter Miami’s first choice in goal for the stretch run. The Dutchman started ahead of Callender in league play for the first time since April 30, making two saves against the Crew.
“Either one can step in and play really well in any of our matches,” Sailor said. “I think we know Nick is really good with his feet, so it is nice playing with him. We have got a lot of confidence that he can playmake out of the back. That is probably one of his best qualities.
“We know he is a good shot-stopper, too, but him and Drake are both really good goalkeepers so either way we are happy.”
Inter Miami now must wait 10 days until its next game on Sept. 10 on the road against the Chicago Fire. Pozuelo will be back for that Eastern Conference affair, and the hope will be that he can help reignite the attack and stop the current freefall down the standings.
“It is not a time of the season to panic,” Neville said. “It is not a time of the season to rip up the rulebook and do something different. It is about having trust and belief in each other, and I have incredible trust in this group of players.”
This story was originally published August 31, 2022 at 11:19 PM.