With or with out Lionel Messi, Inter Miami has an quantity of expertise few MLS groups can match. Saturday was Nashville SC’s flip to seek out that out.
Targets from Ian Fray and Jordi Alba broke open a good sport to offer Inter Miami the lead simply earlier than halftime. The Herons would not relinquish that lead, holding on for a 2-1 win at Geodis Park and season sweep of Nashville (6-6-8, 26 factors).
Hany Mukhtar pulled one again for Nashville by scoring a 73rd-minute penalty. However it wasn’t sufficient to knock off first-place Miami (13-3-5, 44 factors), even because it was with out large names like Messi and striker Luis Suárez, who’re enjoying with Argentina and Uruguay, respectively, on the Copa América.
It sucks to lose that approach, off of two set items to a staff that scores loads of targets on the run of play,” Nashville interim coach Rumba Munthali stated. “I assumed we must always have finished higher on that. I assumed we must always have finished higher with execution of the scoring possibilities we had within the first half. However (Inter Miami is) a extremely good staff, and I assumed within the second half we confirmed some combat, some resolve.”
Nashville went into Saturday on a three-match unbeaten streak and its first profitable streak since Might 2023, having misplaced solely one among its seven video games beneath Munthali. It would look to bounce again Wednesday on the highway in opposition to the defending MLS champion Columbus Crew.
Inter Miami dominates on set items
Munthali went with the identical formation he employed in final weekend’s win over New York Metropolis FC, a 4-2-3-1 with Sam Surridge on the left wing, Teal Bunbury at striker and Mukhtar as an attacking midfielder. Nashville started the sport with an attacking mentality and had greater than 60% possession within the sport’s first 10 minutes.
However Miami started to wrest momentum away with a sequence of harmful nook kicks. Joe Willis dove to parry a header by Diego Gomez within the fortieth minute, knocking the ball out for an additional nook, however had no probability to cease Fray’s uncontested header off the following set piece.
The Herons gained one other nook kick 4 minutes later, and the ball bounced to an open Alba. The previous Spain worldwide took benefit, bringing the ball in earlier than firing a left-footed volley from the sting of the field.
“The primary (objective) was a miscommunication,” Munthali stated. The second, the ball pops out, Jordi Alba hits a fantastic shot. In soccer generally, you’d fairly get beat by a extremely good objective. The primary one was a mistake on our half.”
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Forster Ajago offered a raise when he subbed in for Bunbury within the 67th minute. The undrafted rookie striker contributed to a slew of alternatives in his restricted time on the sector, utilizing his physicality effectively en path to a pair of pictures and three corners earned.
Tyler Boyd drew a foul within the penalty field after one of many corners earned by Ajago. Drake Callender guessed proper on the penalty, however Mukhtar’s shot had an excessive amount of energy and lower the deficit in half with simply over 20 minutes to play.
Nonetheless, Nashville did not fairly have sufficient to finish the comeback. Ajago practically made Inter Miami pay for a poor clearance in stoppage time, however Callender saved his shot from shut vary.
“General, second half, we have been throughout them,” midfielder Amar Sejdić stated. “Attempting to create possibilities, possessing the ball, connecting small passes and simply attempting to be on the entrance foot. We simply in the end could not discover a ending product.”
Jacob Shames could be reached by e mail at [email protected] and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.