Inter Miami resumes inaugural season, Juan Agudelo scores second goal in Club history
ORLANDO, Fla. (July 8, 2020) - Inter Miami CF relaunched its inaugural Major League Soccer (MLS) season in Orlando in a match against Orlando City SC. The matchup, which began at 8 p.m. ET, kicked off the MLS is Back Tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Inter Miami narrowly fell 2-1 after a late goal by Orlando.
“We’re never happy when we lose. We hope to play better in the next match,” said Head Coach Diego Alonso. “We had some good moments, but I think we can play better to be able to win matches.”
The first moment of significant danger came in the 9th minute of play when 20-year-old Designated Player Matías Pellegrini beat a defender on the ball and sent in a pinpoint cross that met the foot of Juan Agudelo, whose shot went narrowly wide of the near post.
On the other end, Orlando City first threatened Inter Miami’s goal with a curling shot from Chris Mueller in the 22nd minute, but team captain Luis Robles quickly extended himself low and to the left to make his first save of the match.
Inter Miami came out of the gate strong in the second half, opening the scoring just two minutes into the half. Rookie right back Dylan Nealis cut in from the right wing and delivered a pass to Pellegrini in the box, who tapped a pass forward to Victor Ulloa. Ulloa then delivered a low driven cross across the face of goal which was met by a left-footed shot by Agudelo at the far post. Agudelo’s left-footed shot found the back of the net, giving Inter Miami a 1-0 lead.
The 51st minute saw an injury to Andrés Reyes who was caught by an elbow from Dom Dwyer of Orlando. After seven minutes of pause, Reyes was subbed off for Designated Player Rodolfo Pizarro, changing the team’s shape.
Orlando City struck back in the 70th minute when Portuguese forward Nani found space on the left wing before delivering a low cross across the face of goal which was knocked in by Mueller at the far post for an equalizing goal.
Inter Miami responded to the equalizer by subbing on 20-year-old Argentine forward Julián Carranza for the goal-scorer Agudelo. The appearance marked Carranza’s Inter Miami debut as he had missed the first two games of the season through injury.
The team followed that moment up by making a triple change in the 79th minute, subbing on Jay Chapman, Luis Argudo and Lee Nguyen for Wil Trapp, Lewis Morgan and Pellegrini. The changes sparked some threatening moments for the team, culminating in a 90th minute chance. Nguyen lined up to take a corner and delivered a precise ball which met Chapman’s head in the box and the shot drifted just over the bar.
The referee designated 10 minutes of stoppage time as the clock ticked past the 90th minute, leaving several additional minutes of action. In the 97th minute the ball knocked around in the penalty area before finding Nani, whose shot beat Robles and earned Orlando a 2-1 victory.
In its third match, Inter Miami continued to build on promising moments from the season’s first two matches despite a hiatus of more than 17 weeks. Juan Agudelo scored the second goal in Club history, resulting in him being voted Man of the Match presented by Heineken, and the team controlled the rhythm of play for much of the second half.
The match featured a number of Club debuts for Inter Miami players. Agudelo and Ambrose appeared in the starting lineup for the first time as Inter Miami players; Ambrose’s minutes were his first for Inter Miami, and they came against his former team Orlando City. Carranza, Chapman and Argudo also made their Inter Miami debuts as second-half substitutes.
Inter Miami will continue MLS is Back Tournament play with its second group stage match July 14 when it takes on Chicago Fire FC at 9 a.m. ET. The match is set to air on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and TSN.
Prior to kickoff, players from MLS’ Black Players for Change coalition walked out onto the field and demonstrated a message of support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Luis Robles, Inter Miami captain, played the game wearing a special captain’s armband, displaying the words “Black Lives Matter” alongside “Unidad” to promote these messages of unity and equality. Each player on the field also wore an MLS Unites patch with a unique, hand-picked message promoting causes of note to them.
Scoring Summary:
IMCF - 47’ Juan Agudelo (Victor Ulloa, Matías Pellegrini)
OCSC - 70’ Chris Mueller (Nani), 90’ + 7’ Nani
Misconduct Summary:
IMCF - Ben Sweat (Yellow Card) 40’, Julián Carranza (Yellow Card) 84’
OCSC - João Moutinho (Yellow Card) 38’, Jhegson Méndez (Yellow Card) 87’, Oriol Rosell (Yellow Card) 90’ + 10’
Lineups/Substitutions:
Inter Miami CF - GK Luis Robles, D Nicolás Figal, Andrés Reyes (Rodolfo Pizarro 58’), Ben Sweat, Dylan Nealis, Mikey Ambrose, M Wil Trapp (Luis Argudo 79’), Victor Ulloa, Lewis Morgan (Jay Chapman 79’), Matías Pellegrini (Lee Nguyen 79’), F Juan Agudelo (Julián Carranza 73’)
Unused Substitutes - GK John McCarthy, Drake Callender, D Alvas Powell, Grant Lillard, A.J. DeLaGarza, M Brek Shea, F Jerome Kiesewetter
Orlando City SC - GK Pedro Gallese, D Ruan, Antonio Carlos, Robin Jansson, João Moutinho, M Júnior Urso (Jhegson Méndez 63’), Oriol Rosell, Chris Mueller (Benji Michel 83’), Mauricio Pererya (Andrés Perea 83’), Nani (Rodrigo Schlegel 97’), F Dom Dwyer (Tesho Akindele 63’)
Unused Substitutes - GK Brian Rowe, D Alex De John, Kyle Smith, M Robinho, David Loera, F Santiago Patiño, Daryl Dike
Details of the Game:
Date: July 8, 2020
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Weather: Clear
Stats:
Possession:
IMCF - 42%
OCSC - 58%
Shots:
IMCF - 8
OCSC -10
Saves:
IMCF - 1
OCSC - 0
Corners:
IMCF - 2
OCSC - 3
Fouls:
IMCF - 12
OCSC - 17
