Red Bulls slump to sloppy Miami loss after bright start

Despite scoring after a vibrant opening 50 minutes, everything seemed to go wrong for New York Red Bulls in the rest of a 2-1 home loss to Inter Miami on Wednesday night. Goals from Matias Pellegrini and Gonzalo Higuain negated an earlier Omir Fernandez finish to earn the three points.

But this match did see an excellent start from the Red Bulls that ran to halftime, outshooting Miami 9 to 4 in the opening period. They carried the good start into the second half, opening the scoring in the 53rd minute with Omir Fernandez converting at the goal line on an assist from Jared Stroud after a botched Miami corner clearance.

But two minutes later, Matthias Pelligrini was left all alone when Miami went the other way. Lewis Morgan found him wide open at the end of a counter attack and set Pellegrini up for a volley that splashed the top of the net to level the score.

The dagger that felled the Red Bulls came in the 81st minute as legendary Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain smashed the ball around the wall, deflecting it in off the inside of the far post. All Red Bulls goalie David Jensen could do was helplessly watch as Miami took a lead they held onto for the remaining nine minutes and stoppage.

Interim head coach Bradley Carnell, who recently learned he will soon be replaced by new manager Gerhard Struber, was not happy with the result.

“A game of two different halves, a really lock down performance in the first half, outshooting the opponent 9-4, and 0 shots on target, so I mean, we just failed to put it over the line and take a real grip on the game and a real control of the game” said Carnell. “I thought for the most part, totally against the run of play, we gave up two situations where we get a little bit exposed, and then on a set piece, we seem to be in the business of giving up world-class goals, and giving people their first goals.”

“So yeah, it’s another one of those bitterly disappointing nights, and I’m sitting here in shock, because, we should never, never be on the receiving end of not getting any points. Unfortunately, a little bit left speechless but yeah, we now just have to try and find a way, and I put the message to the boys, we must now find a way.”

The Red Bulls have a quick turnaround to Saturday as take on Atlanta United down at Mercedes Benz Stadium, where they are undefeated in the regular season. But as they learned tonight losing at home to a team they beat on the road 4-1 just two weeks ago, things can change in a heartbeat with the strangeness of this 2020 season.