3/11/23
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J.J. Pavlick
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Tonight’s home opener saw Inter Miami come in with a record of 2-0-0 and sitting 1 point out of first. NYCFC enters the game with a record of 0-1-1 and 6 points out of first place. The weather center claims the real feel is 34 degrees Fahrenheit, which seems much warmer than its actual feel. Will be interesting to see how the players react to the weather, the wind is blowing North at 12-15mph.
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The first 15 minutes of play have been uneventful for both teams, the biggest action was a yellow card between the two teams. You don’t see Josef Martinez miss from 6 yards out often, thankfully for the NYCFC backline he did in the 29th minute of play. NYCFC goal via own goal and jump out to a 1 – 0 lead in the 36th minute of play. Josef with his second strike on goal from 18 yards out goes right to the keeper Luis Barraza for a routine save in the 43rd minute of play. The 4th official announces a minimum of one added minute to play. That’s the half, as the center, blows the whistle to end the half.
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The first half saw two goals removed by the assistant referees, the 1st one was on Inter Miami where Josef was off by a few strides. Regarding the second offside call, Matias Pellegrini was obviously onside, and we would all love to see what VAR had to say. The only possible call may have been on his teammate slightly ahead of him for interference with the keeper, but that’s a big stretch. NYCFC did capitalize later in the 36th minute when the ball deflected off Inter Miami’s defender and into the goal from a long-distance free kick from the left of the goal.
“We wanted to start off aggressively, we did that better in the second half than the first, I was more pleased with how we came out in the second half and the aggression.” “We know the fans feed off our intensity and we get it back ten times bigger or more.” — Nick Cushing NYCFC Manager
The second half starts with NYCFC getting a dangerous free kick 20 yards from the goal and they didn’t miss the target by much. The score remains 1 – 0 NY in the 47th minute of play. The second half has now seen 2 yellow cards issued within a span of 6 minutes between the two clubs. NYCFC subs Tayvon Gray for Mitja Ilenic in the 67th minute of play. Inter Miami subs Robert Taylor for Nicolas Stefanelli in the 68th minute of play. Miami’s Gregore Silva limps off the field with assistance from training staff in the 73rd minute of play. Miami brings on Ariel Lassiter for Silva in the 73rd minute of play. in the 77th minute, NYCFC makes a substitution bringing on Andres Jasson for Gabriel Pereira. Great save by Drake Callender to keep the score 1 – 0, Braian Cufré unleashed a laser beam to the upper 90 and it took all of Drake to save it in the 82nd minute of play. NYC makes a substitution by bringing on Alfredo Morales for Talles Magno. While NY didn’t capitalize in the second half on the many chances, they created they were the better team in the 2nd half of play. The game could’ve had a different outcome if Josef Martinez was on target with his two-point-blank chances inside 20 yards from the goal.
“Last year in the playoffs our two teams were at completely different levels, this season I feel we were the same.” “We have to finish the chances we get on the road.” “He’s a keeper (Drake Callendar) who makes big saves, we know he has even more in him, and we are excited to see it.” –Phil Neville Inter Miami Manager
Photos Credit: Sean McCaffery @SOCCERLIMAG
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