MLS

Neville slams Inter Miami for defending 'like little boys' in one of two 4-4 draws in MLS

By Sports Desk July 31, 2022

A crazy day in MLS saw two 4-4 draws, with Phil Neville complaining Inter Miami had "defended like little boys" as they were held by FC Cincinnati.

Inter required a 97th-minute equaliser from Christopher McVey to rescue a point, despite having led 3-2 entering the final 10 minutes thanks to a first-half Gonzalo Higuain hat-trick.

Brandon Vazquez scored twice to turn the game on its head, leaving Neville furious despite McVey's last-gasp intervention.

"We defended like little boys, we defended naively, we didn't compete, we lacked discipline and concentration," the former Manchester United and Everton defender said. "And that's unacceptable, unacceptable.

"Simple balls into the box we didn't deal with. Simple concentration bits we didn't deal with.

"We are in the stage of the season where concentration is the main thing, concentration will get you to win games of football, and it's not going to be easy; you've just got to defend and do the right things all the time, and defensively we were as poor as we have been all season."

Remarkably, it was not Saturday's first eight-goal draw, as Minnesota United and the Portland Timbers had earlier played out a thriller.

Sebastian Blanco got the scoring started in the first minute, but there was no late drama in this one, with all eight goals netted before the 70-minute mark.

This was the first time in MLS history two matches on the same day have seen both teams score at least four goals, but there was a chasm between the Philadelphia Union and the Houston Dynamo in Saturday's third high-scoring game.

The Union ran out 6-0 winners as Mikael Uhre continued his stunning run of form at Subaru Park, netting either side of half-time for his fifth and sixth goals in his past four home games.

Uhre had also scored twice in a 7-0 defeat of DC United earlier in July, making Philly the first team to win multiple games by a six-goal margin in a single MLS season.

Elsewhere, New York City FC lost ground on the Union in the East as they drew with CF Montreal, while Sebastian Druissi continued his MVP bid by inspiring Austin FC to a 2-0 win at Sporting Kansas City.

"He continues to demonstrate why he deserves that [award]," said Austin coach Josh Wolff.

Related items

  • Columbus Crew crash out of MLS Cup Playoffs with shoot-out loss to Red Bulls Columbus Crew crash out of MLS Cup Playoffs with shoot-out loss to Red Bulls

    The Columbus Crew's MLS Cup title defence came crashing to a halt as they were eliminated from the playoffs following a penalty shoot-out defeat to the New York Red Bulls.

    Following a surprise home defeat in Game 1, Wilfried Nancy's champions needed a road win in Game 2 to keep their season alive, but Yevhen Cheberko, Max Arfsten and Alexandru Matan all saw their spot-kicks repelled by Carlos Coronel following a pulsating 2-2 draw.

    Arfsten had earlier given Columbus a 55th-minute lead moments after stepping off the bench, only for Dante Vanzeir to drill home a swift equaliser.

    New York looked set to advance when Emil Forsberg's 80th-minute penalty completed the turnaround, but another Crew substitute, Christian Ramirez, headed home six minutes into second-half stoppage time to force the shoot-out.

    Columbus couldn't keep up their momentum from 12 yards, though, with Colonel's three saves proving vital as New York won it at the second time of asking, Daniel Edelman scoring the decisive kick after Sean Nealis had failed to do so.

     

    Elsewhere, the Seattle Sounders also needed penalties to dump the Houston Dynamo out in round one, prevailing from the spot for the second game in a row.

    Seattle's Cristian Roldan scored at both ends, slotting home an 87th-minute opener only to put through his own net three minutes into stoppage time, turning in Griffin Dorsey's cross.

    The first 13 penalties in the shoot-out were all scored, but Tate Schmitt was the unfortunate man to see his spot-kick saved, Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei pushing it away to send his team to the Western Conference semifinals.

    Finally, Ryan Gauld scored and forced two own goals as the Vancouver Whitecaps kept their best-of-three series against Los Angeles FC alive with a 3-0 triumph at BC Place.

    The Scotland midfielder powered home after 10 minutes and, just 180 seconds later, saw his long-range effort deflected past Hugo Lloris by the unwitting Ryan Hollingshead.

    Denis Bouanga twice went close for the Western Conference's top seeds after the break before Gauld was involved again in Vancouver's third goal, seeing a cross go in off the heel of Eddie Segura.

    The teams will now reconvene for a third match next week, with the victors set to face Seattle in the next round.

     

     

  • Barcelona 3-1 Espanyol: Olmo brace sends Blaugrana nine points clear Barcelona 3-1 Espanyol: Olmo brace sends Blaugrana nine points clear

    Barcelona moved nine points clear at the LaLiga summit following a 3-1 victory over Espanyol in the Catalan derby.

    Dani Olmo scored twice while Raphinha was also on target as Hansi Flick's side stretched their advantage over second-place Real Madrid, whose scheduled showdown with Valencia this weekend was postponed.

    Barca broke the deadlock after just 12 minutes. Olmo latched onto Lamine Yamal's brilliant throughball with the outside of his boot, before beating Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia with a well-taken first-time finish.

    The hosts doubled their lead 11 minutes later with Marc Casado finding Raphinha, who bravely lifted over the advancing Garcia.

    It was 3-0 just after the half-hour mark, as Olmo received Alejandro Balde's pass before drilling home from the edge of the penalty area.

    Espanyol, who saw two goals disallowed following VAR reviews, pulled one back when Javi Puado turned home Carlos Romero's cross in the 63rd minute.

    However, it proved a consolation for the visitors, who suffered their sixth defeat in seven league games. 

    Data Debrief: Free-scoring Barca maintain derby dominance

    Now unbeaten in 27 LaLiga derbies against Espanyol, Barcelona have now scored 40 goals this season; their second-highest tally after the first 12 games of a LaLiga season (42 in 1950-51).

    Following Olmo's brace, which took his tally for the campaign to five, the Blaugrana are the only team with four different players to have scored at least five goals in Europe's top five leagues this term.

    In setting up Raphinha's goal, Casado is the first Barca player from Spain to provide an assist in three successive games in all competitions since at least the 2014-15 season.

  • Zverev soars past Humbert to claim Paris Masters crown Zverev soars past Humbert to claim Paris Masters crown

    Alexander Zverev soared to the Paris Masters title following a commanding 6-2 6-2 victory over home favourite Ugo Humbert in the final.

    The German took just 75 minutes to seal his seventh career ATP Masters triumph, and second silverware of the season.

    Humbert received a raucous reception as he aimed to become the first Frenchman to win this event since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2008.

    However, the crowd were silenced when Zverev broke in the third and fifth games on his way to taking the opening set.

    The Italian Open champion also dominated the second set, dropping just five points on serve as he wrapped up a comfortable victory.

    "I knew I had to play like this to win today," Zverev said. "Ugo is an incredible player, but here in Paris, he plays even better than he usually does, and I knew that.

    "Once the crowd gets involved, it's going to be difficult. So, I had to take that away early, and I did, so I'm happy about that."

    Zverev was also delighted to triumph in Paris, and demonstrate the strides he has made since suffering a horrifying ankle injury during his 2022 French Open semi-final against Rafael Nadal.

    "It was not 100% guaranteed that I would be back at this level," he added. "So, to win this title here in Paris means the world to me, and I'm sure it means everything to those in my box, because they have done so much for me."

    Data Debrief: Zverev surpasses Medvedev and matches Sinner

    Runner-up to Daniil Medvedev in 2020, Zverev went one better at the Accor Arena four years later, and will be seeded second at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals.

    The second German to win this event after Boris Becker, he surpassed Medvedev (six) with his seventh ATP Masters crown the outright most of any player born since the format's inception in 1990.

    Zverev also matched world number one Jannik Sinner for the joint-most match wins in ATP Masters events this season with 28.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.