Inter Miami advances to U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 after PK shootout win over Miami FC
The cloud that hung over Inter Miami during a six-game losing streak was finally lifted — at least temporarily — by a couple of unlikely heroes Wednesday night as the team advanced to the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 with a 5-3 penalty shootout win over Miami FC.
Shanyder Borgelin, a Fort Lauderdale native making his first start, headed in the equalizing goal against lower-division rival Miami FC in the 89th minute to force overtime at 1-1.
Inter Miami was a few minutes from a humiliating loss against the neighboring team with a fraction of its payroll when 6-5 Borgelin stepped up and got his head on the end of a Jean Mota cross. Then, trailing 2-1 in the second overtime period after a demoralizing DeAndre Yedlin own goal, defender Ryan Sailor scored the tying goal to push the game to penalty kicks.
Josef Martinez, Victor Ulloa, Franco Negri, Jean Mota and Kamal Miller made their PKs to secure the win as the spirited crowd of 12,099 at FIU Stadium was riveted by the drama. It was Martinez’s first goal since joining the team this season.
Although it took two last-gasp goals to keep Inter Miami alive, coach Phil Neville and his players were relieved to finally get some good fortune after seeing a half-dozen shots clank off the post in recent games. They said the win will give them a boost heading into the MLS road game Saturday against the Columbus Crew.
“Are we totally happy, no? There’s a long way to go, but we do believe this could be a turning point for us,” Neville said. “In life and football, sometimes you get breaks. It feels as if we haven’t been getting any breaks. The last six games haven’t been going our way, but [Wednesday] certain things went our way and we need to build on this.”
Neville reiterated that despite the win, he is not satisfied with the team’s 14th place standing in the MLS Eastern Conference, or the team’s six-game funk.
“Our position in the table, our six defeats aren’t good enough,” said Neville, who looked drained after the game. “I’m not standing here saying everything is hunky dory because we need to win on Saturday. And then we have two home games coming up. But we’re hoping it’s a turning point as the team has tasted a bit of success.”
Miami FC coach Anthony Pulis, a former Neville assistant coach with Inter Miami, was gutted by the loss. His injury-plagued team twice held the lead but came up short.
“Mixture of emotions,” Pulis said. “First and foremost, I’m incredibly proud of our players for what they put in, playing against a team that’s got multi-million-dollar players on the field and bringing six fresh subs on. We had an injury-hit group and the work they put in 120 minutes was incredible.
“To concede the two goals we did was really disappointing. I’ve got this sick feeling in my stomach because it’s the second year running that we’ve taken them really, really far, and we let them off the hook again.”
Inter Miami eked out a 1-0 win over Miami FC in the first edition of the Miami Clasico last year on a late goal by Leo Campana after Neville brought back in five starters he had left out of the lineup.
This year, it was Miami FC fans celebrating for much of the game, only to head home disappointed.
Miami FC forward Christian Sorto struck first in the third minute, when most fans were still battling traffic on their way to the game. Sorto, a U.S. born player who represents El Salvador’s national team, received a slick flick from Italian teammate Claudio Repetto and got around Inter Miami defender Christopher McVey on the left side of the box. Sorto beat goalkeeper Drake Callender with his shot at the near post.
Inter Miami pressed high the rest of the first half, and possessed the ball 78 percent of the time, but Miami FC absorbed the pressure and maintained the 1-0 advantage at intermission.
In the leadup to the game, Pulis said of Neville: “I certainly don’t think he’ll be coming in with his second-string lineup and expecting to beat us with anything less than his best 11.”
He thought wrong.
Only five regular starters took the field for Inter Miami, as Neville chose to rest marquee players Campana, Martinez, Rodolfo Pizarro and Yedlin in a week the team had three games in the span of eight days. Martinez, Pizarro and Yedlin came in midway through the second half, when the team needed a boost.
Neville said before the game that he planned to use “the strongest lineup we can,” but also hinted that there were backups who he felt were deserving of more playing time. He also expressed concern about forwards Campana and Martinez playing on artificial turf, as both have a history of leg injuries.
Campana recently recovered from a calf injury that kept him out of the first six games and Martinez had ACL surgery in 2020. Coco Jean and Serhiy Kryvtsov also had recent leg injuries and were left out.
Borgelin and 18-year-old midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi, who grew up in Key Biscayne, got their first career starts. Harvey Neville, the coach’s son, replaced Franco Negri at starting left back. McVey replaced Yedlin at right back and Sailor stepped in for Krystsov at center back.
This story was originally published April 27, 2023 at 12:26 AM.