The fixture against Miami FC always looked like a fairly tricky one, due to 901 FC squad shortages and Hurricane Ian. Luckily, the cyclone had mostly gone around Miami, so the game went ahead. But instead of the confident, composed team that we’re used to, Saturday’s match was full of mistakes. And despite some heroics by goalkeeper Trey Muse, Memphis conceded from a late Miami strike to lose 1-0.
Normally, Memphis could feel bullish about their chances against any away team. Fresh off a win against conference-leading Louisville City last weekend in Kentucky, 901 FC walked into the Miami matchup boasting a ridiculous +14 goal difference for road games. But one problem: After some heated clashes at the end of last weekend’s match, a mixture of suspensions and injuries meant that three key players would miss the game — leading scorer Phillip Goodrum, Laurent Kissiedou (25 goals between those two), and defender Rece Buckmaster. Instead, Memphis head coach Ben Pirmann tabbed 17-year-old Nighte Pickering to lead the attack for Saturday’s match. On the other side of the field, familiar faces Kyle Murphy, Mark Segbers, and Pierre da Silva lined up for Miami.
This clash started with some choppy back-and-forth for the opening quarter hour, neither team threatening to take control of the game. Memphis sat back and looked to soak up pressure, but couldn’t quite put together the lightning-quick counters that they’ve been fine-tuning all season. Miami had the bulk of possession and had one decent chance that goalkeeper Trey Muse blocked on to the post.
Memphis didn’t really threaten until 25 minutes, with some good interplay around the box eventually seeing Leston Paul’s low cross batted away. From there, they slowly began to ease back into the game. But whenever they did regain possession, the attacking forays saw a more patient build-up than we’ve been used to seeing. Indeed, for most of the first half it remained a physical game, with defenses coming out on top. Miami almost snuck in behind, but a quick intervention cleared the danger, and that was about it for first-half action. Memphis did swing possession back in their favor at halftime (53 percent), but had only one shot (off target).
The second half started similar to the first, with Miami controlling the ball and Memphis sitting back, but the home team dialed up the pressure a bit to create a few chances. Muse made an errant pass to a Miami player just outside his box in the 50th, but clawed away the ensuing chip shot. And two minutes later, Miami created a 1v1 opportunity for Josh Pérez, but Muse saved yet again before stopping a headed chance just moments later.
After that, the ref started to lose control of the match, with tackles going in both ways that drew a couple of cards. Murphy should have been sent off for a wild tackle, while 901 FC midfielder Aaron Molloy cleared out both ball and man on a subsequent hard challenge. On a positive note, Pirmann subbed on new signing Dylan Borczak in the 60th minute. The player needed no time at all to adjust to the pace of the game, committing a foul within seconds of coming on.
The game sputtered on until the 91st minute, when Memphis’ luck finally ran out. A final Miami break saw a cut back fall to Adonijah Reid, who calmly placed the ball in the bottom corner to steal the win for Miami.
A bitter pill to swallow for Memphis, who just didn’t really show up to the races last weekend and tallied their first loss since August 31st. And with only one shot on target, it was always going to be tough to walk away with a positive result. A win also would have taken 901 FC above Louisville to clamp down the top spot in the Eastern standings, but not this day. No need to panic, though. In the end, it’s just one result, and locking up first in the conference is still possible. Either way, Memphis should have a preferable matchup in the first round of the playoffs.