FORT LAUDERDALE— While Inter Miami CF finished the game with 10 men only one of the five goals it conceded to Nashville SC came after that 86th-minute red card which simply reflected the frustration Miami had. It wasn’t that they were outplayed in every area, despite the 5-1 scoreline, it was simply that Nashville created opportunities and Miami didn’t.
If there was ever a match that proved that possession is fairly modern football this was it. Miami managed a 54.7 percent share of possession but still lost by four goals. That’s because it’s not about having the ball, it’s about what you do with it.
Despite passing accurately (89.5 percent) the Heron’s couldn’t convert that into clear opportunities. That’s because as they got closer to the goal that passing accuracy plummeted down to a dire 21.1 percent when crossing the ball into the box. Compare that to Nashville’s 43.8 percent crossing accuracy and you begin to see how the deficit came to be.
The issue of that declining accuracy can be seen in the two passing networks. In Miami’s, it’s clear how deep Gonzalo Higuain (who did manage to score) was pinned for most of the match, by comparison, CJ Sapong and Hany Mukhtar are much further up the pitch, on average, to receive the ball. Another telling difference in these passing networks is directional movement. For Miami, it was predominately across the back-line, for Nashville there the thickest line is actually in midfield moving the ball forward.
Shooting and creating chances were the other big differences in the match. This is clearly seen in the above shot-chart. Miami mostly shot from poor positions and relied almost exclusively on Higuain. Nashville, on the other hand, had shots from a wider variety of places and positions, which led to more opportunities even if some didn’t come off (look at CJ Sapong’s 10th-minute shot). That led to a downright massive xG difference, with both teams finishing above the mark. Inter only managed a 0.5 xG while Nashville managed a huge three and still came out ahead.
It’s a worrying trend, Miami should have the talent, but the tactical decisions in the match and the lack of forward movement is holding the team back, it’s better than this, but at a rough stretch of the season, difficult matches like this can happen.
Photo courtesy Major League Soccer/Inter Miami CF
Florida Soccer Report 