Inter Miami head coach Gerardo Martino slammed the mentality of his star-studded team following a 4-0 defeat at the hands of the New York Red Bulls on Saturday. Miami, missing the injured Lionel Messi, were rewarded with a stunning hat-trick from former Inter player Lewis Morgan at New York’s Red Bull Arena. While Martino admitted his responsibility for the attack, the veteran coach pointed the finger at his players, which include high-profile signings Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Joe Di Alba.
“There’s not much to say, except that we were at a disadvantage from start to finish,” Martino said after the crushing defeat. “Red Bull have a desire to win and we don’t have a desire to compete.
“When a team goes into a game with no desire to win, no spirit, no competition, and the other side just wants to win the game, they’re going to win the game.”
Martino, meanwhile, refused to blame the loss on Messi’s absence, pointing to the team’s 3-1 win over D.C. United last week without the Argentine superstar.
“The absence of the best player in the world is important for everyone – but DC Leo didn’t play last week either,” Martino said.
Earlier, former Miami player Morgan put Martino’s team in trouble with a man-of-the-match performance.
Scotland international Morgan, who joined MLS four years ago after spells at Celtic, St Mirren and Sunderland, gave New York the lead after just three minutes.
Meanwhile, a mediocre Miami team created almost no chances in the opening 45 minutes. Their most threatening opportunity came after Suarez’s curling shot missed after 27 minutes.
Morgan doubled their lead six minutes into the second half with a clever assist from Dante Vanzeir making it 2-0.
The Scotland forward then set up New York’s third goal in the 66th minute, showing tremendous fight to keep the ball on the left before passing it into the box.
Van Zyl assisted the pass and Venezuelan forward Wickerman Carmona completed the shot.
Four minutes later, Morgan completed a hat trick thanks to Van Zyl’s outstanding performance, helping New York complete a sweep of its opponents’ counterattack.
Van Zyl was involved again, shrugging off a feeble challenge from Noah Allen on the right wing before flicking a tempting low pass to Morgan, who made no mistake.
The win moved New York into a tie with the Columbus Crew and Miami for the top spot in the Eastern Conference with 10 points. Columbus is first on goal difference and Miami is second.
In other MLS games earlier on Saturday, the New England Revolution earned their first points of the season with a 1-1 draw against the Chicago Fire.
Nacho Gil’s goal in first-half stoppage time earned the team some points, but they fell behind after 20 minutes to Hugo Kuipers’ goal.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Topics mentioned in this article
Follow us on Google news ,Twitter , and Join Whatsapp Group of thelocalreport.in
