Inter Miami CF found their way into the Round of 16 despite not scoring a single goal of their own. The only time the ball found its way into the back of the net was a ball that deflected off a Charleston Battery player’s face into his own goal. The MLS side would make that 48th minute goal hold up as they advanced, 1-0, at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
“It was tough, tough going. I wasn’t happy,” said Inter Miami head coach Phil Neville. “But we’re in the next round. I think because we had a lot of changes, it was it was going to be a little bit bumpy. I expected more quality aspects, more standards than to be higher than that. It would have meant that we could have probably rested a few more players in the second half.”
Despite a tough start to the season, Inter Miami CF have used the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup to pick up some much-needed momentum. Even with the Brazilian midfield duo of Gregore & Jean Mota out for the foreseeable future, Inter Miami used their victory against local rival Miami FC to break their six-game losing streak a few days later against the Columbus Crew. They entered the match with two consecutive wins. 2019 Open Cup winner Josef Martinez has found form and has started living up to the expectations set at the start of the season. He would headline a squad which saw multiple rotations in the starting XI compared to Saturday’s win over Martinez’s former team Atlanta United in league play.
Charleston Battery arrived in Fort Lauderdale as Eastern Conference leaders in the USL Championship. A dramatic Third Round game against Charlotte Independence saw the Battery go into extra time. They dug deep and Nick Markanich was able to score the deciding goal in the second period to send them through into the Round of 32. USL-C Golden Boot contender Augustine Williams is also a key player that could easily make a difference.
The first half had some notable moments. Nick Markanich, the hero of Round 3, went out early with an injury. Harvey Neville made a blitzing run on the right wing but couldn’t get the ball past Charleston’s goalkeeper Trey Muse. Charleston let Miami have the ball and for most of the first half it looked like both teams were just trying to find their footing.
????pic.twitter.com/k5e0zuICIH
— B/R Football (@brfootball) May 10, 2023
The deadlock would end at the start of the second half. A disjointed sequence of play inside Charleston’s eighteen saw the ball deflect off the face of Battery’s defender Sebastian Palma, who is credited with the own goal.
Charleston instantly turned on the jets and started attacking in order to get the game back level. A few substitutions were made near the 60 minute mark, one of them being Josef Martinez and he was visibly upset to not have been able to continue his run of form.
Inter Miami had a golden opportunity to go up 2-0 when academy products Benjamin Cremaschi and Shanyder Borgelin were free inside the Battery’s box, with the latter skying it over the goal. Given how fierce the competition is for the striker position at Inter Miami, Borgelin would certainly like to replay that moment differently. Another opportunity to close out the game was missed in the stoppage time when Dixon Arroyo hit the post.
It would not matter in the grand scheme of things, as the Battery’s self-inflicted wound would prove enough to eliminate them from the 2023 edition of the Open Cup.
“The Open Cup is the quickest way to get into the Champions League,” said Neville. “I love this competition. In terms of sort of like our own performance, I think the cup time mentality definitely brings out sort of like that that feeling, that nervousness, that tension in you. I’m pleased.”
Inter Miami will return to the Round of 16, where last year they got eliminated by in-state rivals and eventual winner, Orlando City.
