In a game in which DC United need to bounce back from the home defeat in the last match, they duly did. But it wasn’t without a struggle. DC were up against a side who are making their 1st visit ever to Audi Field and only just got beat by a very strong LAFC the week before.
Inter Miami came with the star studded feel to them, the “elegant light coloured uniform”, and they certainly came to make an impression on the field. They got underway and within 2 minutes, they were 1-0 up. Rodolfo Pizarro scoring Inter Miami’s first ever goal in their history. A poor pass in the middle by Russel Canouse gifting them the possession, it finds Lewis Morgan on the right who cuts the ball back and Pizarro has a tap in.
The next big moment came when Erik Sorga came on in the 15th minute, Ola Kamara heading off due to a hamstring injury and forcing Ben Olsen into an early change. Erik Sorga making his DC & MLS debut. DC then had their first real opportunity of the game when a cross came in from the right side and Asad had his header blocked by Romain Torres. In a half in which not a whole deal happened, there was a huge amount of added time, firstly due to Kamara’s injury but then Mora also went down, similar injury and on came O’Neil Fisher for his first appearance since September 2018. And within the same added time, Robbie Robinson also went down injured too after Birnbaum fell onto his leg. A total of 9 minutes added were played in the first half.
Overall the first half was one in which Inter Miami dominated, pressed, wanted the ball more and were willing to put 3 players onto a man to win the ball back. This pressured DC into losing the ball. Things needed to change in the 2nd half if DC were to get anything out of this game.
2nd half kicked off and Inter Miami had already put the ball in the back of the net within 2 minutes again. DC really slow out of the blocks, however this time it was chalked off due to an earlier incident. That incident was a ball through behind the Miami defence, Gressel And Torres challenging for the ball and Torres deliberately handles it away from Gressel, denying him a goalscoring opportunity. Thankfully VAR picked this up, the ref went over to the monitor and cancelled out the goal, but not only that, he gave Torres a red card reducing them down to 10 men. In the next 12 minutes, in what can only be described as an implosion, Miami were down 2-1. Firstly giving away a penalty, Ulloa bringing down Flores in the box, making a mess of his clearance, up steps Asad to coolly slot hit home.
And then in the 60th minute of the game, Will Trap gives away a free kick, effort on goal hits the post and Brillant hammers the ball into the roof of the net, a true poachers effort (yes I know he is a centre back).
Miami continued to lose their way by giving away a number of free kicks, but Pizarro continued to be a threat. A really impressive performance and if they are to make anything of this season, he will need to stay fit and continue in this form. In the last 10-15 minutes of the game, Miami were playing the better football, DC went into defensive mode to hold onto the lead, only going for the counter attacks, in which Sorga did spur a couple of opportunities. Miami had a good couple of efforts towards the end and one last header in the 96th minute in which Hamid came up on top again with some safe hands. Almost gifted a goal straight after by nearly throwing it into his own net.
After 98 minutes the final whistle blew and DC took their first points of the season and Inter Miami, who could feel hard done by because of their performances, still remain on 0.
Match Facts
- Yamil Asad scored a penalty in the 59th minute to equalize for the Black-and-Red. This marked his first goal since returning to the club with his last coming against Montreal on August 4, 2018.
- Frédéric Brillant scored the game-winning goal in the 61st minute. It was his first goal of the season, with his last coming on Sept. 22, 2019 in a 2-0 win over Seattle.
- Erik Sorga made his MLS and D.C. United debut as a 15th minute substitute.
- Oniel Fisher made his first appearance for the club since September 29, 2018 as a stoppage time substitute in the first half.
- This was the first meeting between the two clubs.
- D.C. United are now 1-0-0 against Inter Miami all time.
- The Black-and-Red are 1-1-0 at home this season.
- United’s last meeting against a club making their debut in MLS was a 4-1 win over F.C. Cincinnati on July 18, 2019.
- D.C. United are 20-7-7 at Audi Field all-time.
Lineups
D.C. United lineup: Bill Hamid; Russel Canouse, Frédéric Brillant, Steven Birnbaum, Joseph Mora (Oneil Fisher 45’+4’), Felipe, Júnior Moreno, Julian Gressel, Edison Flores, Yamil Asad (Chris Odoi-Atsem 73’), Ola Kamara (Erik Sorga 15’)
Unused Substitutes: Earl Edwards Jr., Mohammed Abu, Emmanuel Boateng, Griffin Yow
Inter Miami CF Lineup: Luis Robles, Andrés Reyes, Román Torres, Nicolás Figal, Dylan Nealis, Victor Ulloa, Wil Trapp (Matías Pellegrini 77’), Ben Sweat, Lewis Morgan, Robbie Robinson (Juan Agudelo 45’+8’), Rodolfo Pizzaro
Unused Substitutes: John McCarthy, AJ Delagarza JR, Mikey Ambrose, Lee Nguyen, Jay Chapman, Juan Agudelo
Man of the Match
Post-match Press Conference
Up Next
We have FC Cincinatti on March 14th on the road. Kick off is 9:30pm(ish) but is not being broadcast on TV here in the UK.
