Inter Miami Lose 0-4 to the New York Red Bulls | September 19th, 2021

Fort Lauderdale, FL –  It was a night to forget for Inter Miami as they lost by four at home to the New York Red Bulls.

Coming off of two wins in a row, the Herons looked to further cement a spot in the playoffs with a win against the Red Bulls.

Unfortunately, after a jam-packed schedule and little to no resting time, Miami’s fatigue caught up with them. As Game Flow showed, Inter Miami struggled to create much of anything:

g+ GameFlow: MLS Regular Season @InterMiami v @NewYorkRedBulls on September 17, 2021. #InterMiamiCF #LAFamiliaIMCF #RBNY #RojoxSiempre #MIAvNYRB pic.twitter.com/Tb34Fg2e10

— GameFlow (@GameFlowxPG) September 18, 2021

Here’s what happened.

What Went Wrong?

Friday night’s match-up was one of the more lopsided games Miami has played this season. From minute one, the Red Bulls attempted to press Inter Miami’s center backs in order to unsettle their passing rhythm.

They succeeded.

The Herons only completed 79% of their passes and were never able to play through the Red Bull press. That lead to sloppy mistakes at the back which inevitably was their downfall.

It only took until the 17th minute for the wheels to completely come off of Phil Neville’s wagon.

Miami’s defense was caught out of position and New York capitalized by scoring their first goal of the night:

https://twitter.com/NewYorkRedBulls/status/1439008529659179008?s=20

After that, the Inter Miami of early 2021 started to creep in.

The slumped shoulders, the lack of cohesion, and boneheaded mistakes summed up the night. Shortly after the Red Bulls scored their second goal, Nico Figal headed to the showers early as he got his second yellow.

Miami went down to ten men and never fully recovered from the Argentinian’s absence.

Goals three and four followed and Miami, essentially, gave up.

After a six-game unbeaten streak, it was only a matter of time before the Herons lost again.

Neville’s Post Game Comments

Phil Neville, in his post-game conference, openly admitted that he got his tactics wrong:

Neville on the game: "Really disappointing."

Neville said he "picked the wrong team," in regards to squad freshness.

"I take responsibility for that." #InterMiamiCF

— Alex Windley (@aaw_1998) September 18, 2021

Miami was coming off a rough week.

They played two games in the span of four days. The match against the Red Bulls was their third game in a week.

Though both squads played the same number of games in seven days, fatigue, absolutely, played a major role in Miami’s sub-par performance.

The New York Red Bulls are a young side. Looking at squad ages, Inter Miami’s average is 27.7. Compared to the Red Bulls, they have an average age of just 22.5.

Tactically, Neville should’ve done better. However, the Red Bulls not only are equipped to high press all game, as stated above, they also are younger and have the ability to do so.

By the 30th minute, the age and energy gap was evident. This is unquestionably a disappointing result for Miami as they were looking to jump back into 5th place with a win.

However, despite the poor result, there is a silver lining to all of this.

What’s Next?

It’s certainly not over for Inter Miami.

Though they lost, they’re still a couple of points away from a playoff spot with 11 games left in the season. Yes, Friday night’s drubbing was akin to their loss against the New England Revolution, but Miami has more than enough time to reclaim a top-seven spot.

With a win on Wednesday and a game in hand on two teams ahead of them in the standings, Miami will jump into seventh place.

Because DC United lost their latest match against a rejuvenated Atlanta United, a Miami win on Wednesday will have them back in a playoff spot.

While Friday night’s loss is something to forget, Miami has shown that they have the ability to fight back.

Let’s see what Wednesday has in store.

Photo | Nicolas Tapia