TORONTO — It took a late penalty for Inter Miami CF to overcome a ten-man Toronto FC at BMO Stadium on Tuesday. The win extended Miami’s winning run but it should have been much better, looking at some statistics was key.
It’s easy to conclude that Miami wouldn’t have won this match without the man advantage and that’s clear when looking at possession, while the Herons won the possession battle it was only by less than one percent. They were also outshot 10-9 the same margin for shots on target as well 4-3. Additionally, Miami was too often caught offside, being offside six times in the match ruining good build-up.
Where the man advantage showed was in crossing, with space down the wing Miami was able to send in 17 crosses, although often they were futile.
What helped Miami out was clinical passing as they built pressure more and more on the reds hoping it would tell and it finally told in the 95th minute. Passing in the final third was especially accurate, managing a 78 percent accuracy, and that is what led to the mistake that led to the goal.
Miami really stepped up the chances in the second half and especially from the 75th minute which pushed the team up to a 1.4 xG while keeping Toronto under one. In the end, it was all about creating an opportunity to get a mistake and take advantage which finally happened at the death.
Florida Soccer Report 