Saturday, March 14
Louisville, KY – Miami came into Lynn Family Stadium understanding the tall task of getting a result where few teams in USL Championship have been able to do.
Unfortunately, the day would not be theirs as Lou City used a high pressure attack at their home opener to put Miami FC in a early hole that the visitors could not overcome in a 1-4 defeat on Saturday afternoon.
Louisville, coming off a 2-1 victory in Lexington, was intent on using the home atmosphere and high press to force the new roster of Miami that was missing three starters to struggle early. The plan worked to perfection as Aiden McFadden continued his scoring ways in the 8th minute.
Lou City’s Donovan took a pass at the top of the box and weighted a perfect pass to McFadden who had time and space to fire a shot out of Eloy Room’s reach to put the hosts up early.
The pressure continued as Miami’s backline left more space for Jansen in the 16th minute but this time Room made a great save at his near post to deny Jansen.
Miami began to adjust to the pressure and began looking for outlets to its attackers, as Arney Rocha made a great run and placed a ball on to Jurgen Locadia. Locadia took one quick touch at the edge of the box and fired a shot just wide of goal. Then in the 25th minute Miami began to find its footing yet again with more pressure. Joel Soñora showed great skill on the ball and found his way through the Louisville midfield to find Ndongo. The young Cameroonian place a cross into the box to the onrushing Rocha, however the Colombian’s volley was struck right at the Lou City keeper to keep things at 0-1.
Then in the 28th minute, a bit of magic after a Miami turnover put the visitors in a bigger hole. After Miami gave up possession the ball went straight to Serrano who lined up a rocket from 25 yards out. The curling shot left Room with no chance and sent the home stadium into a frenzy.
The 30th minute caused the match to get further out of reach for Miami. Louisville got back to pressing and earned a corner kick. The cross beat Tulu and landed right to the head of Chris Donovan who again placed it out of reach of Eloy Room. All of a sudden, Miami seemed out of sorts down 0-3 in the first 30 minutes.
To Miami’s credit, the team continued to push and were granted a little bit of hope in the 43rd minute. Alessandro Milesi bagged his first goal in a Miami FC uniform as he took advantage of a bad Louisville clearance and hit a fantastic shot outside of the box and to the lower corner to make it 1-3. The first half ended with Louisville having taken a blistering 15 shots on the Miami goal.
In the second half, Miami brought on reinforcements with Mason Tunbridge who added extra press. However, Louisville adjusted their strategy and allowed Miami the bulk of possession owning a comfortable lead. With Lou City putting more bodies behind the ball, Miami struggled to create chances in the final third. While putting more players forward and being vulnerable to counter attacks, the strategy played into Louisville’s favor.
In the 68th minute with Miami pressing for a second goal, Lou City took advantage of another Miami turnover and quickly countered finding Ray Serrano on the flank. Serrano played a quick combination with Louisville’s Wilson. The play left Wilson all alone with Eloy Room and the Lou City attacker made no doubt as he finished the day for Louisville at 4-1.
Miami will regroup and look to reset its focus on Loudoun United next Saturday, 3pm ET at Segra Field in Virginia. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+. Tickets for Miami’s Home Opener at Pitbull Stadium on March 28th are on sale now by going to www.MiamiFC.com or calling 844-MIAMIFC.
