Miami Victorious In Florida Derby After Beating Rowdies 2-1 In St. Pete
Tampa Bay Rowdies lose to in-state rivals Miami FC after falling 2-1 at home. The lone goal from Charlie Ostrem was not enough, as an early goal from Arney Rocha and a go-ahead-goal from Rodrigo Da Costa in the second half proved the difference.
There wasn’t a long wait for a goal, with Miami FC taking the lead within five minutes of the opening whistle. A beautiful inswinging cross from Fullback Alessandro Milesi found an unmarked Arney Rocha, whose diving header beat a helpless Jahmali Waite.
While Milesi played a perfect ball in, questions do have to be asked of the Rowdie defense. Brian Schaefer and Nathan Dossantos went to mark the same attacker, leaving Rocha wide open in the box.
It is the first time the duo has started together since Schaefer’s injury in June. While Brian Schaefer has made appearances since his injury, it was the first time him and Dossantos were the starting centerbacks. Hopefully, they can get back to where they were preinjury, because they were unstoppable.
Determined to get even again, the Rowdies were pressing for an equalizer. An inswinging Louis Perez cross met a Marco Micaletto header. Miami FC goalkeeper Felipe Rodriguez stopped the initial effort. MD Myers was there for the rebound, with his effort blazing off the post.
I really like what Louis Perez brings to the Tampa Bay attack. Perez can hit goals from range, as we have seen in games earlier in the season. His most recent ranged effort was against Brooklyn FC, where he scored from outside of the box.
Miami FC continued attacking, having back-to-back chances that cut through the Rowdies defense. Simple balls over the top were undoing the Rowdie defense, and were creating great chances for Miami. One of these chances, by forward Denilson Milanés, hit the woodwork. It very easily could have been 2-0 to the visitors.
Neither team were able to find another goal before the half, and the teams went into the locker rooms with Miami up 1-0.
The Rowdies wasted no time after the break, with Charlie Ostrem getting his first goal in Green and Gold. Micaletto whipped in a cross from a free kick, with a game of pinball occurring in the Miami FC box. The ball found its way to Ostrem, who calmly slotted the effort from the six-yard box.
Ostrem has been a pivotal player for the Rowdies this season. Making the jump with Coach Casicato from Omaha, Ostrem has registered 8 assists and now a goal to his stats in the Green and Gold. Ostrem is just one assist short from tying the league leaders for assists.
Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, the score remained tied for only a few minutes as smooth footwork from Rodrigo Da Costa put Miami back in front.
After a horrendous whiff by Schaefer to stop a Miami counter, however, a well-placed tackle by Jahmali Waite cleared the danger temporarily. After a one-two in the Rowdies’ box, and some cheeky ball rolls around Waite, Da Costa passed the ball into the open net.
There was a lot wrong with this. First, the Schaefer whiff on the clearance is honestly embarrassing. This set-up the initial chance, which was cleared away by Waite.
Rodrigo Da Costa then plays a way too easy one-two with Arney Rocha, rounds Waite, and scores.
The worst part was how easily the one-two between Da Costa and Rocha. Rocha held off Max Schneider, while four defenders stood there ball watching. An attacker should not have that much space barely outside of the six-yard box.
With just under 20 minutes to go, the Rowdies had a fantastic chance to draw even again. After a nice dummy from Russell Cicerone, LAFC loanee Gino Vivi had a curling shot aimed towards the corner of the goal. A nice punch from the Miami goalie denied Vivi, and denied the Rowdies their second.
While the Rowdies had later chances, nothing was able to beat Rodriguez.
The final whistle blew, and the Rowdies suffered their fifth defeat of the season.
The Rowdies have been defensively sound all season, so to have a game where their defense let them down is frustrating to watch. Hopefully the team can focus on their defensive fundamentals and return to the defensive unit we are used to.
Around the League:
While Tampa Bay dropped points this weekend, there were some favorable results this weekend in the Players’ Shield Race.
El Paso Locomotive FC dropped points in an away loss to Lexington SC. El Paso’s issues started early after Arturo Ortíz was sent off for throwing an elbow.
A couple minutes later, Lexington SC took the lead through Xavier Zengue. Despite being down, El Paso were able to find an equalizer through an outside-of-the-box effort from Amando Moreno. The teams went into the break tied one all, despite Lexington having been up a player for about twenty minutes. In the second half, USL veteran Phillip Goodrum put the hosts in the lead from an impressive acrobatic finish.
Only a couple minutes later, Lexington scored again, this time Bruadílio Rodrigues getting the final touch. It was always going to be difficult to get a result being a player down for majority of the match, and El Paso lose in Kentucky.
The other interesting match was Detroit City FC and Birmingham Legion FC in Michigan. The lone goal of the match was a penalty scored calmly by Kobe Hernández-Foster in the first twenty minutes. Both teams had good chances to score, with all of them being squandered. With that win, Detroit City FC dethroned Charleston Battery as 2nd place in the Eastern Conference.
For the Players’ Shield Race, Tampa Bay still leads the league with 52 points with 27 games played. Detroit City FC and El Paso Locomotive FC are tied with 47 points and 27 games played. New Mexico United and Charleston Battery are tied with 46 points, however Chalreston has a game in hand.
In the Eastern Conference, Louisville City FC is in 7th place with four games to play with 37 points. 8th-place Miami FC has two games to play and 36 points. 9th-place Indy Eleven has 34 points and three games to go.
Coming Up/Match Prediction:
The Rowdies are on the road again for the last time this regular season. They travel to Indianapolis to face Indy Eleven. Indy have had trouble in recent games, only winning one of their last eight games.
The two teams met in May at Al Lang Stadium, with the Rowdies walking away with the 1-0 win. The goal came from now departed Mattheus Oliveira in the second half.
It was a tough game for both teams, where the Rowdies really had to push to get the three points.
Coming into this weekend, Indy Eleven are outside of the playoff rankings, sitting two points behind Miami FC in 8th.
In their most recent game, they drew 1-1 to Loudoun United at Segra Field. Indy took the lead through Bruno Rendón strike at the end of the first half.
With only 10 seconds on the clock, Loudoun United FC had a corner kick. Former Rowdies goalkeeper Jordan Farr got on the end of the corner and scored. In the last minute of added time, Farr’s header took away two critical points that Indy needed in this playoff race.
For a player to watch, I am going to say Bruno Rendón. He is a striker who can create chances and score them. The Cuban international has 12 goals this season, with ten of them in the USL Championship. He also has 4 assists this season.
This is Indy’s last home game of the season, with their last two games being away to Louisville and Charleston. I expect Indy to control the game, will be seeing anything less than three points as a loss.
The Rowdies’ attack can take advantage of this, and I see them scoring a goal through a quick counterattack. However, I don’t see either team being able to find a winning goal. With Rendón playing for Indy, there is a high likelihood he scores or sets up a goal.
I am going with a 1-1 draw as my prediction.
