Inter Miami routed 4-0 by Red Bulls as ex-teammate Lewis Morgan records hat trick

Lionel Messi sat out the Inter Miami game against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, as expected. His teammates who did show up might have been better off staying home, too. They seemed listless, uninspired, and disorganized, and they paid the price.

The men in pink were routed 4-0 on a frigid, rainy afternoon.

The thermostat read 49 degrees at Red Bull Arena, a steady downpour never let up the entire game, and Inter Miami’s cold, sloppy performance reflected the weather conditions.

Lewis Morgan, the speedy, Scottish former Inter Miami winger, punished his former team with a hat trick. He scored in the third minute, 51st minute and 70th minute.

As a sign of respect for his former teammates, Morgan restrained himself to a very muted celebration after the first goal. But he allowed himself to celebrate a bit after the second and had a huge smile on his face when his teammates engulfed him to honor his hat trick.

Morgan was also instrumental in the Red Bulls’ other goal, a 66th minute shot by Venezuelan Wiki Carmona. The ball looked like it was about to roll out of bounds along the left sideline when Morgan, showing the engine and fight that had made him a Miami fan favorite, sprinted over, slid, and kept it in play. He passed to Dante Venzeir, who then found Carmona at close range.

The crowd, in winter coats and rain ponchos, chanted: “Lewis Morgan! Lewis Morgan!”

“There is nothing to say except that they were the better team from start to finish; our team looked like a team that not only had no desire to win, but no desire to compete,” said a dejected coach Tata Martino. “It even makes one question how far we want to go, especially when we can look so different from one week to the next. We all have to take responsibility, mainly me as the coach.

“But there was nothing previously, not even in our loss to Montreal at home a few weeks ago, that led us to believe we would have a performance like we had (Saturday).

“The Red Bulls had a desire to win. We did not even have a desire to compete. We had trouble with all facets of the game, defending, attacking, controlling the ball, coming out of the back, many problems.”

On the first goal, Dylan Nealis, another former Miami player, sent a long pass to Morgan, who made a clinical finish from the top of the 18.

Miami, meanwhile, never got anything going offensively, had trouble linking the midfield with the forwards, and got beat repeatedly.

“The weather was not an excuse because both teams played in the same conditions,” said midfielder Sergio Busquets. “We made a lot of mistakes that made it easy for them to score goals. We have not been able to find the consistency a team needs to compete at the highest level. We need to get players back from injury and from national team duty.”

Messi is recovering from a strained hamstring and will be evaluated on a week-by-week basis. However, forward Luis Suarez, midfielder Busquets and left back Alba were in the Starting XI.

Also starting were Leo Campana, Lawson Sunderland, Julian Gressel, Noah Allen, Sergiy Kryvtsov, Tomas Aviles, Robert Taylor and C.J. Dos Santos in goal, replacing Drake Callender, who is with the U.S. national team. There was some question as to whether Campana would play, as he missed practice mid-week with an adductor strain, but he looked fit on Saturday.

In addition to Callender, five other Miami players were missing for international duty: Fede Redondo (Argentina U23), Diego Gomez (Paraguay), David Ruiz (Honduras), Shanyder Borgelin (Haiti), Israel Boatright (Dominican Republic U23).

Franco Negri, returning from a long injury absence, was on the bench. Four players from Inter Miami’s second team traveled as reinforcements: Tyler Hall, Ricardo Montenegro, Leo Afonso, and Jose Casas.

The Red Bulls were missing Carlos Coronel (Paraguay), John Tolkin (USA), Noah Eile (Sweden), Daniel Edelman (USA), Emil Forsberg (Sweden), and Cory Burke (Jamaica). All but Burke are starters.

Observations from the game:

Messi was Missed

Despite the roster including Messi’s three former Barcelona teammates, Inter Miami is a different team with and without the Argentine star. Miami has gone winless in eight of the past nine games without Messi. It isn’t just what he does himself with the ball, but the confidence he injects in all his teammates with his mere presence on the field.

It appeared they had learned to win without him last weekend, with a 3-1 road victory against D.C. United, but were unable to duplicate that performance.

Messi elevates everyone’s level. Players know if they get the ball to him, something positive is bound to happen. They have not yet developed that kind of confidence in other players. Also, when he is on the field, the opponent is so focused on him that other players are left free to roam and create. That is not the case when Messi is missing.

That said, Martino and Campana refused to use Messi’s absence as an excuse.

“On one hand, the absence of the best player in the world is important for all of us, but last week against D.C. Leo (Messi) didn’t play, either,” Martino said.

Campana added: “Obviously, whenever Leo doesn’t play it’s a big loss, and we had several player missing for national teams, but that is not an excuse. Those of us who got opportunities have to take charge, turn the page and look forward to New York City FC (next Saturday).”

Midfield faltered without Gomez, Redondo

Although they are just two young players, Diego Gomez and Fede Redondo have become critical to the midfield because they run a lot, cover a lot of ground, and are good complements to Busquets and Suarez, who are aging and lack speed.

Gomez and Redondo were both with their national teams, further indications that they are among the most promising players in their countries. Their absences were felt.

Miami’s Defense Remains Spotty

All three of Morgan’s goals followed lapses in Miami’s defense. It was especially glaring on his second goal. Tomas Aviles made a bad pass from the back in a dangerous space, it was intercepted by Venzeir, who then quickly got the ball to Morgan, who made a clinical finish. Center back Sergiy Kryvtsov was slow to the ball in another.

“We made a lot of defensive errors, made it very easy for them to get chances and goals and that is what affected the game the most,” said Busquets. “In the first half when we were down 1-0, they were the superior team. In the second half, they scored several goals and it became unsalvageable.”