Pressure mounts on Phil Neville at Inter Miami after MLS side lose FOURTH game in a row with ex-Manchester United winger Nani defeating them with stunner for Orlando City
- Inter Miami had suffered defeats by Chicago and DC United before the fixture
- Phil Neville’s side took the lead after a long-range effort from Gonzalo Higuain
- Chris Mueller equalised for Orlando City from ex-Man United star Nani’s cross
- The ex-Portugal star then scored a stunner to confirm a sixth defeat for Miami
A stunning sixth goal of the season from Orlando City star Nani condemned Inter Miami to a 2-1 home defeat – their fourth straight MLS loss – and increased the pressure on boss Phil Neville.
David Beckham‘s franchise came into the game having failed to win since mid-May when they beat Cincinnati, with a 1-0 defeat by Chicago preceding back-to-back 3-0 and 1-0 reverses against DC United since then.
Neville’s side were without the suspended Ryan Shawcross after he was sent off for grabbing DC United’s Joseph Mora by the neck and hauling him down.
A stunner from Nani condemned Inter Miami to their fourth straight defeat in the MLS
The defeat by Orlando City increased the pressure on Inter Miami boss Phil Neville
But the former full-back saw his side take the lead in the second half after former Juventus, Real Madrid and Chelsea forward Gonzalo Higuain ran at the Orlando defence before arrowing a long-range effort into the bottom.
However, six minutes later the visitors were level when Chris Mueller volleyed home an inch-perfect cross from former Portugal international Nani.
The 34-year-old ex-Manchester United winger then turned scorer 10 minutes from the end after hitting a flat effort from the edge of the left-hand side of the box into the top corner to confirm a sixth defeat of the season for Inter Miami.
The result leaves Inter Miami 11th in the Eastern Conference and just four points above bottom side Chicago, with all three sides below them – also including Toronto and Cincinnati – having games in hand on Neville’s side.
Gonzalo Higuain gave Inter Miami the lead but that was wiped out within 13 minutes
But the former Man United and England star was upbeat despite the result, describing his side’s performance as ‘outstanding’ and admitted he felt ‘proud’ of his team.
‘I thought we were absolutely outstanding. I feel really proud of the team. I think when you talk about what you want to see from the team, this is exactly what I saw tonight,’ said Neville.
‘I think there’s a level of performance, a level of attitude now that’s non-negotiable. When we have that kind of attitude and we have that total commitment, you get the performance like we did tonight.
‘The players that are willing to run, the players that have the right attitude, players with energy, players that were hungry, players that would scream for us to spring back. That’s the level now that we’ve got to expect.’