A shorthanded Inter Miami CF fell 2-0 to the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night, going down two men in the second half.
Lineup Notes
Inter Miami fielded a familiar starting XI, making two changes from its last match. Nick Marsman started in goal; DeAndre Yedlin, Damion Lowe, Aimé Mabika and Chris McVey remained at the team’s backline; Jean Mota, Gregore and Bryce Duke started in midfield; Robert Taylor and Ariel Lassiter started on the wings alongside striker Leonardo Campana.
After scoring the first goal of his MLS career in Inter Miami’s 2-1 victory over Atlanta United last weekend, Duke reached another milestone in tonight’s match, making his first MLS start for Inter Miami in place of the injured Robbie Robinson. Captain Gregore, meanwhile, returned to the starting XI after missing Inter Miami’s last fixture due to a suspension for yellow card accumulation.
Match Action
New England opened the scoring in the match less than a minute into proceedings. The hosts won the ball high, and 2021 MLS MVP Carles Gil played Damian Rivera into the box, who netted for the early 1-0 lead at Gillette Stadium.
Inter Miami was then forced to make a pair of early first-half substitutions with Campana and Mabika coming off injured, and being replaced by Emerson Rodríguez and Jairo Quinteros respectively.
The match reached halftime with the one-goal difference intact, thanks in part to strong goalkeeping from Marsman. The Dutchman made three saves in the half, including a spectacular leaping save to slap away a dipping shot on target from a deflected shot by Gil’s in the 41st minute.
New England then doubled its lead in the second half moments after a second yellow card issued to Lowe saw Inter Miami fall down a man; DeJuan Jones crossed a ball into Adam Buksa in the box, who headed it home to double the lead.
Despite a second sending off for Inter Miami, the scoreline remained at 2-0 through the final whistle.
Post-Match Reaction
"What I would say at the end we had nine players on the field that worked their absolute socks off and never stopped working. We suffered a lot tonight in terms of a couple players going off injured which knocked our rhythm, but the players that then stayed on the pitch competed," said head coach Phil Neville. "Today is a day where we’ve just got to lick our wounds, take the hits a little bit and hopefully it’s just a little bump in the road and we bounce back next week at Charlotte.”
Next Match
Inter Miami’s road trip will continue next weekend when it visits Charlotte FC for the first time. The sides will face off at Bank of America Stadium next Saturday, May 7 at 3:30 p.m. ET.
