‘This is the worst game we’ve had’: Disaster vs. NY

FORT LAUDERDALE — The New York Red Bulls soiled Inter Miami CF’s first opportunity to play in front of fans at Inter Miami CF Stadium on Wednesday, with Inter Miami falling to the Red Bulls 4-1 for the worst loss of the season.

With nearly 60 family members and new star player Gonzalo Higuain in attendance, Inter Miami failed to go on their first winning streak of the season and dropped their first game at home.

“This is the worst game we’ve had,” Inter Miami coach Diego Alonso said. “They were better than us and we gave them the opportunity of taking the lead a couple times. We committed mistakes and we gave them opportunities for them to be stronger. We didn’t understand the way we had to play them.”

Inter Miami beat the Red Bulls in several statistical categories — possession, passing accuracy, total passes and total shots. But they struggled against the Red Bulls’ high-press, with New York scoring multiple goals after Inter Miami turnovers.

“We didn’t start the game right,” said Inter Miami goalkeeper Luis Robles, who played for the Red Bulls from 2012-19. “We didn’t respect our opponent. Coming onto the field thinking it’s going to a be a kick around and go through the motions, it’s just the wrong mentality to have.

“It’s frustrating because we played good enough on the road [Saturday] against Atlanta [United FC] to get three points. We can’t say the schedule congestion is an excuse because everyone’s dealing with it. They flew three hours to get here. If anything, we should’ve taken advantage of various factors in the game.”

New York took a 2-1 lead in the 49th minute when Brian White took advantage of a Ben Sweat turnover outside of Inter Miami’s box.

Inter Miami attempted to become more dangerous in the attack when they subbed in Rodolfo Pizarro — who came off the bench Wednesday — and Robbie Robinson in the 57th minute and moved into a 3-5-2 formation after Jay Chapman joined the game in the 65th minute.

Pizarro recorded two shots on target in his 43 minutes of playing time, while Robinson had one of the best scoring chances of the game on a breakaway in the second half.

But Inter Miami didn’t find the back of the net for a second time against New York. The Red Bulls scored the game’s deciding goal in the 85th minute to go up 3-1 when Ben Mines recorded his first goal of the season.

A Daniel Royer goal one minute into stoppage time put the Red Bulls up 4-1, sealed the win for New York and made Wednesday’s loss being the first time Inter Miami lost a game by more than one goal. The Red Bulls’ four goals are the most Inter Miami has allowed in a match.

“The moment they started pressing us, there were no surprises,” Robles said. “I had been there for eight years and since 2015, it’s been very clear the way they play. It seemed like we weren’t ready for it. The whole time we were reacting instead of being the aggressor.”

An early Blaise Matuidi penalty inside Inter Miami’s box in the 13th minute proved to be costly. Matuidi tripped Jared Stroud inside the penalty area, setting up the Red Bulls for a penalty kick. Mandela Egbo knocked the penalty kick past Robles for the game’s first score and giving New York a 1-0 lead.

Juan Agudelo scored Inter Miami’s lone goal in the 39th minute for his third goal of the year and the 50th of his MLS career. Matias Pellegrini, who started in place of Pizarro, intercepted a Red Bulls’ pass in the final third of the field with the ball rolling to Lewis Morgan’s feet.

Morgan passed the ball back to Pellegrini, who found Agudelo inside the box with the ColombianAmerican forward hitting the ball into the back of the Red Bulls’ net to tie the game, 1-1.

The loss dropped Inter Miami (3-8-2, 11 points) to 13th in the 14-team Eastern Conference standings. They’re three points outside of a playoff slot, with Atlanta United (4-7-2, 14 points) currently in 10th place (the last playoff position in the conference).

Inter Miami will play one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference in the Philadelphia Union (7-2-4, 25 points) Sunday at Subaru Park. It’s unknown if Higuain will be able to play against the Union as he’s waiting to receive his visa and international transfer certificate.