New York City FC Suffers Second Consecutive 3-2 Road Loss, this time to Inter Miami CF

Courtesy: NYCFC

By Eddie Kalegi 

For the second consecutive Saturday, a depleted New York City FC squad finished on the short end of a 3-2 road battle with a team teetering on the playoff bubble, this time at the hands of Inter Miami CF, a club who had never beaten City before in five previous meetings. 

When these two teams squared off just three weeks ago at Yankee Stadium, City significantly limited Miami’s attacking chances, holding them to just three shots on goal. In that matchup though, New York City had Alexander Callens, Tayvon Gray, and of course, Taty Castellanos, at their disposal. 

Talles Magno, making his first start at striker since Castellanos left, had a massive scoring chance just four minutes in off of a Santi Rodriguez feed, but squibbed an angled shot off the outer netting. Robert Taylor and Inter Miami CF would pierce through the short-handed City defense seven minutes later, but were unable to convert because of a sprawling save from all-star Sean Johnson. 

After about twenty minutes of action, Miami began to string together some offensive chances, as Alejandro Pozuelo and Gonzalo Higuain each narrowly missed potential tiebreakers.

What looked to be an early defensive battle took a drastic turn in the 34th minute, as Talles Magno made the most of his extra time on the pitch, ending a five match scoreless streak with a go-ahead goal off of a well-executed free kick. Maxime Chanot, another player getting extended time due to missing starters, finally notched his first career assist in the blue and white.

Just five minutes later though, Inter Miami CF had an answer. New York City’s weakened defensive unit finally broke down, as Alejandro Pozuelo drilled the equalizer past Sean Johnson.

Head official Drew Fisher indicated one minute of stoppage time, but let the action play through well into a second minute (much to the chagrin of Miami manager Phil Neville), as City sustained possession in the attacking third. Eventually, Thiago Andrade, yet another player getting a greater opportunity than usual, delivered the go-ahead goal, giving City the 2-1 halftime lead.  

Despite maintaining the lead early in the second half, things weren’t all positive for New York City FC, as the injury bug struck again. Gabriel Pereira, who scored in last Saturday’s loss to Columbus and assisted on Andrade’s goal in this one, left the pitch with trainers in the 52nd minute, with Heber subbing in as his replacement.

After a frantic ending to the opening period, the second half started out calm, but officiating drama would loom large once again in the 63rd minute. Malte Amundsen collided with a Miami defender, sending both hard onto the turf. But the whistle wasn’t blown, play continued, and Ariel Lassiter slipped through a suddenly shorthanded New York City defense to tie the game for the second time. 

US Men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter was in attendance at DRV PNK Stadium, and had to be impressed with Sean Johnson, who preserved the tie in the 69th with a superman-esque lunging save to deny Gonzalo Higuain and Inter Miami.

City had a couple of corner kick opportunities around the 75th minute, and eight total for the game, but couldn’t make anything of them. The lack of offensive cohesion would again prove costly for City, as an intercepted back pass in the 83rd minute set up Alejandro Pozuelo for his second goal of the contest, giving Inter Miami CF a late lead.

The final attempts to secure a point for the night proved futile, as even City teammates Maxi Moralez and Santi Rodriguez had to be separated as frustration boiled over. More than six minutes of stoppage time were not enough, as Inter Miami CF scored three times, equaling their offense from their previous five meetings with NYCFC, handing New York City their second consecutive 3-2 loss to begin the month of August, allowing the Philadelphia Union to expand their lead atop the Eastern Conference to six points. Since Taty Castellanos’ departure, City is 0-2-1. 

It will be a quick turnaround for New York City, who return for one match at Red Bull Arena this Wednesday against Charlotte FC, yet another club bordering on postseason contention.