Yahoo Movies Inter Miami squanders chances, loses 2-1 to Atlanta United as playoff hopes get dimmer
Inter Miami’s already slim chances of making the playoffs dwindled to near impossible after a 2-1 road loss against Atlanta United on Wednesday night.
A win would have put Miami within three points of the final playoff spot with two games to go. Instead, six points separate them from the post-season heading into a home game Saturday against New York City FC and the season finale on the road at first-place New England Revolution.
Miami must win its final two games and get some help to have a chance at a playoff berth.
Coach Phil Neville stressed all week that they would likely get only two or three legitimate scoring chances against Atlanta and needed to convert them all. It didn’t happen and it cost them the game. Miami took 11 shots, six of them on target, and only one went in -- on a penalty kick.
“To sum it up, you think about their goal scorers, Josef Martinez gets two chances, scores both, one gets disallowed. Araujo gets one chance, scores,” Neville said. “We created more chances than we did all season and just didn’t take our chances. In big games your DPs (Designated Players) need to stand up and take chances, your big players, your forward players, your creative players you invest all your budget in should win you these games. We played some brilliant football.
“I’m proud of the way we played, proud of the way we fought, but it feels really empty. Even though I’ve been told it’s not mathematically impossible, it feels like it.”
Squandering opportunities has been a recurring theme for Miami much of the season, and it was a key reason the team came up short on Wednesday.
Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuain stepped up for the third game in a row, giving Miami a 1-0 lead in the 32nd minute on a calmly taken penalty kick after Lewis Morgan was fouled in the box by Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
Morgan tracked down a long pass from Brek Shea just inside the box and was nicked in the ankle by Guzan. Higuain, Morgan and Christian Makoun discussed who would take the penalty kick but there was little doubt the team’s highest-paid player would wind up with the ball.
It was Higuain’s team-leading 12th goal of the season. But he had two other scoring chances that he failed to capitalize on, and that proved costly.
In the ninth minute Higuain had a clear 1-on-1 look against Guzan, but hesitated and pulled back, giving Atlanta defender Miles Robinson a chance to steal the ball. Higuain missed another chance in the second half, failing to get off a good shot from close range after receiving a perfect cross from Kelvin Leerdam.
Robbie Robinson, who came off the bench, shot high and wide in the 87th minute and then had a chance to equalize on a header in the 89th minute, but Guzan was able to get to it and knock it away.
Atlanta’s equalizer came in the 59th minute on a free kick by Brazilian Luiz Araujo that went under Miami’s jumping wall. Venezuelan forward Josef Martinez scored the go-ahead goal in the 73rd minute after slipping behind Miami defenders Leandro Gonzalez Pirez and Christian Makoun just after Miami had switched from five men in back to four.
The two biggest questions heading into the game were whether Neville would start the Higuain brothers for a third game in a row after their partnership sparked two victories last week and whether he would go with four or five men in back.
He chose not to start Federico, the 37-year-old elder Higuain brother. Instead, he played Jay Chapman in the middle alongside Gregore. Gonzalo Higuain, Lewis Morgan and Rodolfo Pizarro led the attack.
Neville explained: “The pitch here is really big, fast, they’ve got a lot of fast players. We just thought coming off the back of two really high energy games from Federico that his impact would be later in the game, which it was. I don’t think I would change that decision. We created chances. We picked a team to nullify their strengths. We did that.”
Once again, it came down to lack of efficiency in front of the goal.
“We missed ruthlessness to score goals,” Neville said. “That’s what the best players do. That’s what the best teams do. Martinez comes through and you know he’s never going to miss. That’s why they won the game. That’s why we are where we are in the league. It’s as simple as that.”
Center back Nico Figal returned to the lineup for the first time since injuring his calf three weeks ago, so Neville opted for the back line trio of Figal, Gonzalez Pirez and Makoun with Shea and Leerdam as wing backs.
“It’s frustrating, but we created chances and Brad (Guzan) made two great saves,” Shea said. “We’re still in it. Our goal is to win the next two games and Saturday is right around the corner. We expect a big Miami crowd and want to give them an exciting game and score goals like we did last week.”
One of the bright spots of the night was the pre-game matchup between the Special Olympics teams sponsored by Inter Miami and Atlanta United.
“Even though we’re all disappointed I want to say how special it was to see our Special Olympics team before the game,” Neville said. “When you think about the emotion and disappointment we’re feeling now think about how tough life is for those guys, those kids that played before the game. A brilliant thing. We met them, puts life in perspective a little bit.”
