Miami FC's reaction proves to be too little, too late
Published on August 15, 2008 under USL First Division (USL-1)
Fort Lauderdale Strikers News Release
Miami, August 15, 2008 - Miami FC and the Carolina RailHawks duked it out Friday night live for the whole country on Fox Soccer Channel. Both teams came in with playoff aspirations and the RailHawks came away with the hard fought victory. On a very damp night in Carolina the Blues ended up hurting themselves with a series of mistakes that proved too costly to overcome. Carolina took advantage of those errors and won 3-2.
Right from the get-go Alex Afonso almost put Miami FC ahead with only 45 seconds played. Some good passing in the area put the ball at the feet of Léo Inácio who gave a soft cross for Afonso who then headed the ball wide of the goal.
Afonso would make another appearance in front of goal in the 9th minute as the partnership of Walter Ramirez and Léo Inácio beautifully carved up the Carolina defense. A nice pass by Ramirez to Inácio allowed the Brazilian to play a low cross in front of the goal to Afonso. All Carolina could do was frantically clear the ball out over the cross bar.
Then in the 11th minute Connally Edozien made an error for Miami. After taking the ball from the RailHawks in the Blues defensive half, he tried to find an outlet pass but could not find an open teammate. The ball was then stolen by a RailHawks player at the edge of the area and Edozien had no choice but to foul. The resulting free kick was played to former Miami player Eddie Gutierrez who unleashed a wicked shot that just sailed over the bar.
Carolina struck first in the 19th through a deflected shot by Martin Nuñez. A smooth through ball was played to the diminutive midfielder who took off down field. He had nothing but open field and Josh Saunders ahead of him but after a fake by Nuñez that left Saunders behind the RailHawks player shot toward the open goal. The ball rolled toward the goal and bounced off the post but the on rushing defender Cristiano Dias was the unfortunate victim of an own goal as the ball deflected back into the goal from his thigh.
The lead was not held long however as Cauê da Mata coolly equalized for Miami FC. In the 21st minute a corner kick was not cleared out and made its way to the back post and Cauê shot it low through the defense to the opposite post. The ball sliced through the heart of the defense right in front of goal and slid past the keeper to put Miami on the scoreboard.
In the 28th minute a defensive lapse allowed Carolina to put in another one. Hamed Diallo was in front of the goal very close to being offside and a shot rolled its way to his feet and with no one in front of him he put it into the back of the net.
The mistakes continued in the 31st as a poor clearance at the edge of the area by Eric Brunner deflected off another Miami defender. The ball was picked up by Ronald Cerritos who curled a shot over Josh Saunders from beyond the area that bounced off the left post and put the RailHawks up 3-1.
After a tumultuous and scoring filled first half Miami FC made its way to the changing rooms down 3-1 looking to make some adjustments and some more goals.
The second half began relatively well for Miami as it was the Blues who were doing most of the attacking. However there were not many quality chances for either team in the first 15 minutes. New signing Ansu Toure made his debut for Miami and fit in well into the midfield with Léo Inácio and Walter Ramirez.
In the 68th minute Sean Fraser ripped a shot from 10 yards out that was saved well by goalie Chris McClellan. Some nifty moves by Walter Ramirez led to a pass by the skilled player to Fraser. Fraser did well to collect the hard pass and turn and take a hard shot that was saved by McClellan.
Another scare would come in the 73rd minute when Hamed Diallo came up with the ball off of a missed header. Diallo went down the left side and took the best shot he could as another Miami defender was pressuring him. Josh Saunders saved the strong shot and played the ball out.
In the 77th minute Miami had a great chance to climb back into the game but Alex Afonso shot clear over the bar. A lovely one-two pass by Sean Fraser to Connally Edozien allowed Edozien to move into the area. He then played a perfect pass to Afonso right in front of goal from 8 yards out yet Afonso was only able to shoot high and the ball sailed over the bar.
Miami was not done though and Alex Afonso added another goal to his collection. In the 83rd minute Afonso bolted into the area on a corner kick. He powered a strong header to the left side of goal and the RailHawks keeper got a finger on it but could not keep it out of the goal. Miami was then down 3-2.
3 minutes of added time were not enough for Miami though to find an equalizer and the game ended 3-2 in favor of the Carolina RailHawks.
Miami's next match is at Tropical Park on August 24th against the Charleston Battery. Group tickets are currently on sale by visiting our ticket page by calling 305-728-2612. Single game tickets are available through Ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-866-57-MIAMI. Watch all of Miami's away games and all other USL games live on USL Live!
USL First Division Stories from August 15, 2008
- Sounders blanked in loss - Seattle Sounders
- Miami FC's reaction proves to be too little, too late - Fort Lauderdale Strikers
- RailHawks Defeat Miami FC 3-2 - North Carolina FC
- RailHawks out in the community this weekend - North Carolina FC
- Rhinos penalized for infraction - Rochester Rhinos
- Rhinos Signs Defender Heins; Release Martinez - Rochester Rhinos
- The Impact Visits the Timbers in Portland Saturday - Montreal Impact
- The Two Impact Games Against Real Esteli FC on Radio-Canada Television - Montreal Impact
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