Inter Miami Win at Seattle

Inter Miami haven’t had the best start to the season, going five games without a win. And there were many who expected that run to be extended to seven with the team due to face staunch opposition in first the New England Revolution and then Seattle Sounders FC. 

However, Miami were keen to reverse their fortunes and, against all expectations, won both games, with 3-2 and 1-0 victories. 

Head coach Phil Neville will have been relieved to get back to winning ways, but there remains lots of work to be done before Miami can be described as properly back on track. 

With Phil Neville’s own playing experience at Manchester United, the coach will be acutely aware of how much work it takes to deliver consistent performances. 

And he acknowledged this after the match against the Sounders, describing their efforts as “a continuation of the work that’s required” but insisting that the wins would give the team “confidence, learning and growth to keep believing”.

New England are the Eastern Conference champions, and the Sounders are the in-form team of the Western Conference right now. So on the face of things, pulling off wins against both is an impressive feat. 

But context is important, and it’s worth mentioning that neither team was at full strength. 

Several key players were missing from the start at New England, who have hit a horrible run of form with five straight defeats. 

And while Seattle are scorching hot right now, their achievement in reaching the Concacaf Champions League Final meant that they fielded a much-weakened team against Miami. 

Nevertheless, you can only beat the team that's on the pitch, and Miami did the necessary, much to the delight of their players. Fullback DeAndre Yedlin pointed out the importance of being able to "grind out those kinds of wins, especially away from home" and described the result as a "really big win". 

Neville fielded an unchanged line-up for the match against the Sounders, a strategy that paid off with a win. 

Gonzalo Higuain, the club’s star striker, was missing in action again, sidelined with a knee injury. Leonardo Campana replaced him as the number 9, and turned in a strong performance with an assist, holding up possession well. 

Higuain is expected to be able to make a return to the first team this week, where he’ll be injected straight back into the action. Neville insisted that the Argentine ex-international’s presence was pivotal with such a long week and long season but acknowledged that other players were pushing him for his place. 

This will create a positive dilemma for Neville, who has talked about his desire to set the bar high with the whole squad. But with only seven points in the season so far, Miami still has a long way to go to finish where they want in the league. 

Consistency will be crucial now for Neville and his players if they want to be considered as one of the serious MLS contenders.