Morgan goal gives team consecutive wins for 1st time
Inter Miami CF entered Saturday knowing it’s “crunch time” on their season — and they played like it in their 1-0 victory versus the Houston Dynamoat Inter MiamiCFStadium.
With only six games left in their inaugural Major League Soccer regular season, Inter Miami need all the points they can get in their push for a spot in the MLS Cup playoffs.
And the three points they earned in their victory against the Dynamo places them in 11th place in the 14-team Eastern Conference standings after entering Saturday in12th.
Inter Miami (5-10-2, 17 points), winners of consecutive games for the first time in franchise history, are only a point behind 10th-place (the last playoff position in the conference) Nashville SC (4-5-6, 18 points) after entering the game four points behind them.
“Emotionally it strengthens the team,” Inter Miami coach Diego Alonso said about winning back-to-back games for the first time, with Inter Miami entering Saturday coming off a 2-1 win against the New York Red Bulls on Oct. 7. “We deserved to win both games. It’s important that we won by playing well. That strengthens the conviction of the team.”
Lewis Morgan scored the game’s lone goal in the 57th minute to seal the victory for Inter Miami.
Dynamo defender Aljaz Struna was called for a foul against Leandro Gonzalez Pirez inside Houston’s box to set the Scottish winger up for a penalty kick. Morgan slotted the shot to the bottom-right corner of the Dynamo’s net, with Houston goalkeeper Marko Maric diving to his left to give Inter Miami the1-0 lead.
Morgan leads Inter Miami with five goals on the season, in addition to a team-high five assists.
Houston’s best attacking threat in the second half came in the 71st minutewhenDarwin Quintero hit a through ball to Ariel Lassiter, who took a leftfooted shot from the right side of the box.
John McCarthy, who’s been the starting goalkeeper for the past two games due to Luis Robles’ fractured left arm, made the save in the center of the goal to secure Inter Miami’s third clean sheet of the season and first shutout in eight games.
“We’re buzzing after two wins,” McCarthy said. “All you want to do is win. At the end of the day, it makes everything feel better.”
Inter Miami started a fiveman backline for the second consecutive match after usually starting four defenders.
Brek Shea and Dylan Nealis played as wingbacks, with Gonzalo Pirez, Nico Figal and A.J. DeLaGarza as the center backs. Blaise Matuidi and Wil Trapp; Matias Pellegrini; Gonzalo Higuain and Morgan filled out the remainder of the starting lineup along withMcCarthy.
“It gives everyone in the backline more confidence,” Nealis said about the formation change. “If you do make a mistake, you have four other guys behind the ball to make up for it. Knowing there’s an extra guy behind you makes a huge difference. We’re flying with this formation.”
Inter Miami out-shot (14-10), out-possessed (56.1%-43.9%) and outpassed (507-395) the Dynamo in the win.
The match had a 47-minute weather delay in the final parts of the first half.
Heavy rain drenched the field a few minutes after the game’s scheduled 5 p.m. start, with Inter Miami’s white jerseys sticking to the players’ bodies early in the match and McCarthy putting on a baseball cap.
The scoreless game was delayed in the 31st minute due to lightning nearby. Players went back to their locker rooms before starting warmups 35 minutes later. Thegameresumed12 minutes afterwarmups began.
Shortly before the match kicked off, Inter Miami acquired Federico Higuain — Gonzalo Higuain’s older brother — in a trade with D.C. United for $50,000 in general allocation money.
While it wasn’t known how long his isolation period per MLS protocol will last, the elder Higuain is expected to give Inter Miami’s attack a boost with his playmaking and creativity with the ball.
Inter Miami will return to Inter Miami CF Stadium with the chance to take another leap in the standings Wednesday versus Atlanta United FC (5-9-3), who are in ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings with 18 points. The game will be the fourth matchup between the two teams, with Inter Miami recording two wins and a drawin the previous three matches.
“Logically, the closer we get to the end of the regular season, we know we have tomake sure we get points,” Alonso said. “We just have to take it game by game, play well, and adjust some details. The team’s improved and it’s noticeable.”