North Carolina FC Makes it 10 Games Without a Win for Miami FC
Today's win puts the hosts in eighth place with 21 points in the Eastern Conference table.
After 90 minutes of football, Miami FC were trounced 4-1 by North Carolina FC. Khalid Balogun took full advantage of the host’s blunder at the back to open up the scoring. Coming out of the half, John Bradford made a tactical change that Miami could not adjust to. Before the visitors could react, North Carolina had the lead.
Early Hope
After a 36 minute weather delay at WakeMed Soccer Park, it was the visitors who started on the front foot.
In the 6’ minute, Miami beat North Carolina’s high press and successfully played out the back. Daniel Barbir had acres of space to run into and passed it to Allen Gavilanes at the edge of the box. He hit it first time as it just went over the cross bar.
Terrible mistake by Nicolás Cardona in the back minutes later. He gave a soft outside of the boot pass backwards trying to find Daltyn Knutson. His lapse of concentration went unpunished as North Carolina was unable to make the most out of the opportunity.
In the 16’ minute, Evan Conway should have made it 1-0 for the hosts. Louis Perez dropped into his teams half and beat the defender. He took space down the line and dribbled goalwards. Perez sent Conway in, but the winger could not hit the target.
Khalid Balogun makes the most out of his opportunity as he opened up the scoring for Miami FC. Frank López drifted to the left side of the pitch and cleared the ball up the field. Center back Lamar Batista made a poor first timed pass backwards sending the Lexington loanee to the races. Batista shielded the forward thinking that his keeper Jake McGuire would come out and clear the ball. Both North Carolina players second guessed themselves and Balogun placed it home to make it 1-0.
Balogun and Lopez were the two up top for Miami FC. Head Coach Antonio Nocerino gave the 6’4” loanee his first start since joining the club. He played the target forward role while Lopez played as a pressing forward. Instead of Balogun dropping in and connecting play between the midfield and the attack, he stayed up top with the last defender. Lopez found himself on the left wing a lot helping Miami play out of the back and pressing the defense.
In the 40’ minute Miami FC had a throw in. Balogun controlled the ball and sent a whizzing pass to Lopez. The Cuban controlled it excellently, but his back was turned to goal. As he passed the ball backwards, North Carolina’s defense recovered and ended the opportunity.
Puerto Rican international and Miami FC captain Nicolás Cardona picked up a yellow card in the 45’ + 1’ minute. His challenge on Rafa Mentzingen was late as the referee played advantage. Cardona will miss Miami’s next match now as he picks up his eighth yellow of the season.
After the first 45 minutes, the stats were fairly even. North Carolina FC had 52% possession to Miami FC’s 48%. North Carolina had nine shots with three on target while Miami had eight with two on frame.
Tactical Dominance
After a fantastic first half for Miami FC, it all went downhill after the break.
Mentzingen leveled it for North Carolina FC in the 50’ minute. Collin Martin dribbled with pace into the box. He played halftime substitute Oalex Anderson in. His shot was deflected by the Miami defender, but it fell perfectly to Mentzingen. The Brazilian had all the time in the world and scored hitting the side netting.
In the 52’ minute, Anderson was in again. He was sent a through ball in his own half and made his way to the box. The pacey Vincentian had to hold play up and face his man. He cut to the right with pace and hit a low driven shot to the far side which just missed the post.
Evan Conway scored two goals in two minutes to win the game for North Carolina FC. Louis Perez was all alone inside the box. He dribbled around creating time for his teammates to get into the box and sent in a cross. Conway showed his class with a cheeky flick that young shot stopper Felipe Rodriguez could do nothing about.
Conway extended his team’s lead to two goals after scoring a beautiful curling effort with his left foot. Miami FC was caught sleeping in the back. The 26 year old got the ball inside the box and cut to his left sending Alejandro Mitrano the other way. Rodriguez could do nothing about the effort as it wrestled into the side netting.
Anderson would get his well deserved goal in the 77’ minute from the penalty spot. He earned the penalty after the Miami FC defense did an awful job at clearing a ball from the back. Anderson turned and was tripped up by Mitrano. The forward stepped up and blasted it down the middle making it 4-1.
After Anderson was subbed in at halftime, Miami could not deal with his pace. In the first half, North Carolina used Jacori Hayes as a central advanced midfielder/false nine. He would hold up play, get the midfield the ball and play the wingers, but no opportunities came from it.
Speed kills, and Head Coach John Bradford used it to his advantage. Nocerino tried to make a change early subbing in Jordan Ayimbila for Knutson who had a yellow when the game was level, but Anderson stayed on Mitrano’s side. The Venezuelan could not keep up and had a rough game.
Up Next
Miami FC play ninth place Rhode Island FC at home on Saturday, July 13. Not only will the club need to sure up its defense, but they need to find some type of playmaking ability in the midfield to create opportunities up top.
Fun fact: all five goals in this match involved a former USL League One player! Love to see those guys move up and succeed.
This match, along with 95% of Miami FC games can be summed up in one sentence: Miami FC still don't know this is a 90 minute game, and minutes 46-90 mean as much as 1-45.
It's actually depressing to watch.