MLS

Vancouver Whitecaps 1-2 Inter Miami: Taylor stars for Eastern Conference leaders

By Sports Desk May 26, 2024

Inter Miami extended their club-record unbeaten streak as Robert Taylor starred in Sunday's 2-1 triumph away to Vancouver Whitecaps in MLS.

Taylor opened the scoring after 38 minutes before teeing up Leonardo Campana's second-half strike, rendering Ryan Gauld's late penalty as meaningless at BC Place.

Jordi Alba teed up Taylor's third MLS goal this season, playing down the left before the Miami man cut inside and rifled into the top-right corner.

Taylor continued to dominate in the second half, driving down the left-hand side before cutting back for Campana to slot a routine, first-time finish into the bottom-right corner after 54 minutes.

Gauld sliced the deficit with 18 minutes remaining, caressing a cool penalty past Drake Callender, but that mattered for little as Miami continue to lead the Eastern Conference standings.

Data Debrief: Unbeaten Miami on fire

Gerardo Martino's side are now unbeaten in their last 10 MLS games, a club-record run, as well as moving to five games undefeated on the road – another first for Miami.

In stark contrast, Vanni Sartini's Whitecaps are without victory in their last six MLS matches, last suffering as long as a winless streak between October 2022 and March 2023.

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    England topped Group C as a result of Tuesday's goalless draw with Slovenia, but they were booed off by their fans after producing another flat performance.

    The Three Lions created just 0.8 expected goals (xG) despite enjoying 74% of the possession, the latter being their highest figure ever recorded in a major tournament match where they failed to score (since 1966 for World Cup and 1980 for Euros).

    Southgate's team failed to attempt a single shot until the 30th minute, their longest wait for an attempt in a Euros match since 2000 (35th minute versus Germany).

    The England boss only made one change to the team that toiled in a 1-1 draw with Denmark on matchday two, replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold with Conor Gallagher, as Phil Foden and Harry Kane continued to struggle in attack.

    Speaking in his role as a pundit for ITV Sport, Neville said: "England have Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, Kobbie Mainoo, Phil Foden… massive, massive talents and we cannot afford to mismanage them," he said.

    "We are the only country in the world who continually ask, 'where can these players fit?'"

    Manchester United midfielder Mainoo had a positive impact when he replaced Gallagher at half-time, and Southgate feels he should start Sunday's last-16 clash, which will pit England against a third-place finisher from either Group D or E.

    "Every time England made a change, they got better," Neville said. "I am certain Mainoo will start the next game. 

    "Southgate thought Gallagher was the option for energy, but it was quite obvious we needed someone on there to get us playing and Adam Wharton is capable of doing that as well.

    "The more substitutions we made, the less rigid we looked. We looked so basic in the first half, it was a struggle to watch that and I think we moved forward in the second half. We did not get the result, but there were glimpses of what we can be."

  • Reggae Boyz eye first Copa America win against Ecuador Reggae Boyz eye first Copa America win against Ecuador

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    The 53rd-ranked Jamaicans are hunting their first goal, first point and, by extension, first victory in three appearances at the prestigious CONMEBOL tournament, a feat they will be hoping to achieve against the 30-ranked Ecuadorians to bounce back from a 0-1 defeat to Mexico in their opening fixture.

    Kickoff is 5:00pm Jamaica time.

    A victory would keep Hallgrimsson’s side in the hunt for one of the top two spots to the knockout stage. However, that is easier said than done, and despite their gallant effort against Mexico in Saturday’s defeat, Ecuador represents a different challenge, one which Hallgrimsson knows they can by no means scoff at even though their opponents also suffered a 1-2 loss to Venezuela in their opening encounter.

    “It's going to be a tough match. Really a tough match,” Hallgrimsson stressed.

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    Though Jamaica and Ecuador have crossed swords in international friendlies on four occasions, this will be their first Copa America meeting. It should be noted that Jamaica has never defeated Ecuador, which means Wednesday’s contest takes on added significance for Hallgrimsson’s side to possibly achieve two significant milestones in one go.

    But, again, that is easier said than done, as in their four meetings to date, Ecuador has won three, while the other ended in a stalemate. The last encounter between the two, in 2018, ended 2-0 in favour of the South Americans.

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    “We had a good game against Mexico the players performed well, but we just didn’t win. We are the underdogs in the group so we just want to show the same performance against Ecuador and see what it brings us. Hopefully it will bring us three points, but certainly we want to build on the performance against Mexico because we really are doing everything to stay in this tournament, I believe we have the squad to do that and so that is the focus,” Hallgrimsson declared.

    Despite his familiarity with Ecuadorian counterpart Felix Sanchez, Hallgrimsson pointed out that it offers very little comfort.

    “I know Felix so I know what kind of football they will play, and of course we have analysed them really well. They are really aggressive and physical and they have a strong midfield, but I think it’s the energy and commitment of this Ecuador team that is going to be the trickiest thing for us. Like I said they lost their first game as well which puts them under pressure so I know they are going to be more intense against us,” he opined.

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    Argentina have secured their place in the quarter-finals with a game to spare and will top Group A if they avoid defeat against Peru on Saturday.

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    "We would love to see him because he is young and he is a fresh player," Scaloni said of the winger. 

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