Inter Miami loses 3-1 to Orlando City match result, recap

DRV PNK Stadium was rocking Saturday night for the showdown between cross-state rivals Inter Miami and Orlando City, an intense match-up that included the two coaches jawing at each other during a heated exchange.

Despite the festive atmosphere, a near-sellout crowd of 17,643, and a two-forward lineup of Leo Campana and Josef Martinez expected to produce goals, Inter Miami failed to take a single shot before intermission for the second game in a row and suffered a second consecutive defeat, 3-1.

Miami dropped to 5-8-0 and is in 12^th place in the East after climbing as high as sixth in recent weeks.

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“This loss hits a bit harder (compared to a six-game losing streak earlier in the season) because it was a derby game and you always want to win those, especially at home in front of your fans,” said defender Kamal Miller. “But I don’t think these two losses will affect the spirit of the locker room. We know we’re very close to that team everyone can see in us.”

The lone Miami highlight was a spectacular left-footed equalizing goal by Campana from outside the box in the 57^th minute after receiving a perfectly timed pass from Martinez. The crowd went wild, and it appeared the momentum had swung in the home team’s favor. Finally, it seemed the highly anticipated partnership between the two forwards was working.

But the Inter Miami defense got lazy, was caught off guard in the 68^th minute, and paid the price. Orlando attacker Martin Ojeda, who had just entered the game a few minutes earlier, broke free behind Miami defenders and had a nice finish to make it 2-1. Rafael Santos made it 3-1 in the 86th minute, taking advantage of Miami’s defensive lapses.

“On their three goals, it was just mental lapses,” Miller said. “They were pretty easy goals. Since I’ve been here, we haven’t been conceding soft goals like that, so I’m very disappointed in the way they scored their three goals. They only really created off our mistakes, so the fact we gave them three easy goals is frustrating. Those three crucial moments cost us.”

Miami dominated possession 61 percent to 39 percent but failed to create many chances. The men in pink had six total shots on the night, two on goal, while Orlando had 11 shots, four on frame.

“Even though we didn’t have any shots in the first half, we had a couple of chances, but we were too eager and needed a bit more composure, needed to take the extra pass,” said Inter Miami coach Phil Neville. “The two forwards had some good link-up play that was causing Orlando problems, but we were forcing passes.”

The north stands were jam-packed with “La Familia” diehard supporters, who unfurled an enormous banner that covered nearly the entire endzone. It read: “La Familia: Where Life Begins and Love Never ends. Our Futbol Has Arrived.”

But they didn’t have much to celebrate in the first half.

Inter Miami fell behind in the 19th minute on a difficult header by Austrian forward Ercan Kara, who managed to fend off Sergiy Kryvtsov’s smothering coverage on a long throw-in and whip it past Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender to the top left corner. It was Kara’s fourth goal in the past five games.

Campana missed a golden opportunity to even the score a few minutes later when he collected a through ball from Martinez near the goal, but he launched it over the crossbar and was also caught offside.

Kryvtsov was not feeling 100 percent, Neville said, so he took him out of the game and made a tactical adjustment in the 32^nd minute, sending on midfielder Nico Stefanelli. The team started with five men in the back, but switched to four in back with the sub.

Miami controlled the game after the change, and was energized by Campana’s rocket of a shot, but it wasn’t enough.

“Three moments of poor concentration cost us dearly,” Neville said. “When Leo scored, I felt only one team would go on and win it. They settled in and we were going for it. I thought the fans were incredible. From the minute we walked out, they got in early and supported us. They sang the whole game. We felt it. The boys are gutted.”

Inter Miami returns to DRV PNK Stadium on Tuesday night for a U.S. Open Cup round of 16 game against Nashville SC, which beat Miami 2-1 on Wednesday in a league game.

“We’re angry about the last two games because we have not played to our full potential,” Neville said. “We felt were building something and we’ve lost that momentum a little bit. When games are coming thick and fast it’s easy to gain momentum and equally easy to lose it. We have to stop it now. We can’t allow 0-6 to happen again. The league is so tight. On Tuesday, it’s a respite from the league to play in the Cup and we’ve got to get back to winning ways.”