Inter Miami CF (2W-1L-0D, 6 pts) narrowly fell by a score of 1-0 to New York City FC at Yankee Stadium on Saturday night. Goalkeeper Drake Callender continued his strong start to the season despite the result, making seven standout saves on the night.
Lineup Notes
Inter Miami entered the match with an unchanged starting XI. Callender started in goal; DeAndre Yedlin, Sergii Kryvtsov, Chris McVey and Franco Negri started in defense; Brazilian midfield duo of captain Gregore and Jean Mota formed the team’s double pivot in midfield with Corentin Jean, Nicolás Stefanelli and Rodolfo Pizarro in front of them; Venezuelan international Josef Martínez led the team in attack.
The team entered the match fielding the same starting XI as in its first two games of the 2023 season. Inter Miami also officially debuted its new 2023 and 2024 away jersey, La Noche, tonight.
Match Action
A few early defensive interventions kept things level through the early stages of the match, including important blocks and clearances from McVey and Yedlin.
Inter Miami then appeared to take the lead in the 20th minute when Stefanelli slipped a through ball in behind the defense for Martínez, who calmly slotted his finish through the keeper’s legs, but the referee raised his flag and disallowed the goal as Martínez was offside.
The Venezuelan striker continued to threaten, receiving the ball in dangerous areas and testing the New York goal. Notably, intricate build-up play between Mota, Jean, Pizarro and Martínez saw Pizarro’s low cross finding Martínez in the box, but his powerful first-time effort flew just narrowly over the bar.
In the 36th minute, however, an NYCFC free kick was cleared into the back of the net for an own goal, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead that they would hold through the halftime whistle.
In the second half, Callender made several standout saves to keep Inter Miami in the match, including one on a driven low shot, one diving to deny a shot heading for the roof of the net, and one with an extended leg.
Inter Miami’s biggest chance of the half came in the 75th minute when Negri lashed a powerful long-range effort that drew a difficult save from the NYCFC keeper. The team was unable to find the equalizing goal from there, resulting in a narrow 1-0 loss on the road despite the team controlling the bulk of possession and creating several dangerous chances.
Post-Match Reaction
"I think about when we played NYCFC at Citi Field in the playoffs. I thought the gap between the two teams was significant, but I thought tonight there were two equal teams out there tonight," said head coach Phil Neville. "We just have to keep developing, keep getting better, keep improving, keep working hard. We played the first, second and third best teams in the conference last season. And we beat two and probably should’ve got something from this game."
Next Match
Next Inter Miami will head north of the border to take on Toronto FC at BMO Field on Saturday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Stats
Possession:
NYC - 43%
MIA - 57%
Shots:
NYC - 13
MIA - 6
Saves:
NYC - 3
MIA - 7
Corners:
NYC - 2
MIA - 2
Fouls:
NYC - 12
MIA - 15
