Nashville dismantle Inter Miami 4-1 as Callaghan plan exposes fragile defence | OneFootball

Nashville outclassed Inter Miami 4-1, extending their advantage over the Herons to five points, 43 to Miami's 38. According to interheron.com, interim coach Guillermo Hoyos watched B.J. Callaghan's compact, high-press unit pick apart the league's highest-scoring side.

On paper it looked like MLS's game of the week, a Miami win might have sent them top of the Supporters' Shield and Eastern Conference after a limp Leagues Cup. Instead Nashville's press and counter-press suffocated them and ruthless counters exposed a confused back line.

Miami remain shorthanded, though Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Maximiliano Falcón returned alongside Gonzalo Luján. Germán Berterame, wingers Mateo Silvetti and Tadeo Allende, and centre back Micael dos Santos Silva, who sprained an ankle against Club León, are still out. New arrivals Casemiro, Sergio Reguilón and Facundo Mura are yet to find consistency under Hoyos.

The defence bore the brunt. Player ratings had Miami at 6.2 out of 10, with the starting back line of Mura, Reguilón, Ian Fray, Luján and goalkeeper Rocco Ríos Novo averaging 5.26. All five were below 6.0 and Ríos Novo's 4.7 may have set an unwanted low.

His afternoon unravelled on 63 minutes when Nashville keeper Brian Schwake launched over the defence to Hany Mukhtar. Caught well outside his box, Ríos Novo slipped as he tried to recover and Mukhtar walked the ball in. It followed his recent whiff on Fray's back-pass that resulted in a Chicago own goal.

Las Garzas were a mess last year until Javier Mascherano promoted Baltasar Rodriguez and Silvetti, whose pace opened space for Messi and chances for Allende, who set an MLS post-season record with nine goals on the way to the MLS Cup. Hopefully Hoyos finds a similar breakthrough, otherwise 2026 could become a wasted campaign.

Fifteen league matches remain, so Miami have time to chase Nashville, but there is work to do. They visit 14th-placed Philadelphia Union on Wednesday before back-to-back home games against 12th-placed Toronto and 13th-placed Montreal. Dayne St. Clair could get another look in goal sooner rather than later.

Source: interheron.com

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”