Miami United FC Becomes King of the Magic City Clasico with USOC Win over Miami FC

The ominous clouds that delayed the kickoff of the match seemed to be a harbinger of things to come as Miami United FC came away with a big with over Miami FC 3-1 at FIU Soccer Stadium as they earned a spot in the third round of the 2018 U.S. Open Cup.

Forward David Ochoa was the hero for United as his brace was the difference in the match and then Victor Pelae put the final nail in Miami FC’s U.S. Open Cup hopes.  Based on the rhythm that was established from the start of the match, this game was going to be totally different compared to the previous encounters, and that was the case.

In the beginning of the match, Miami FC showed purpose and an aggressive disposition that would lead to the first goal of the match in the 17th minute of play when Ariel Martínez ran down the right side of the United defense and his cross would find Dylan Mares in the top of the 12 to give the Orange and Blue the initial advantage.

In that play, Miami FC played very well by finding the trailer in the play as United’s defense tended to drop back too much and allowed the second player to get a rather good look.  That had occured on previous occasions with Kris Tyrpak, on the occasion prior to Mares’ goal where goalkeeper Occenat Peterson prevented the opener.

The great question was how would Miami United come back after such a tough blow while Miami FC looked to be playing much better than them.  That question was answered quickly.  Miami United pushed their lines up and created three chances, the best chance of the first half was a header in front of goal by Ochoa in the 26th minute.  It was not a goal, but it was where momentum began to change toward the men in pink and black.

The first half ended as Tyrpak would get sent off with a straight red in the final minute of stoppage time in the middle of the pitch.  That would leave Miami FC with ten man for the remainder of the match.

The problem for Paul Dalglish’s men was not being down a man, as they managed well, ironically, in the previous match against Miami United.  The problem was the mental breakdowns defensive that would lead into two goals in a span of three minutes.  Both goals were virtual carbon copies of one another as David Ochoa would recover an errant ball by Miami FC, break past the defense, and slot the ball past Daniel Vega on both occasions.

At that point Miami FC lost their poise and despite attacking, there was an organizational nous that was lacking.  On various occasions Miami United found the ball and had Miami FC against the sword, but the home side was saved on various occasions by captain Daniel Vega. His four amazing saves kept Miami United from running away from the match.

Towards the end of the match, Miami FC did regain possession but the lack of offensive organization prevented them from doing damage to a team that was losing their legs, but one of the substitiutions by Victor Pastora paid dividends.

Victor Pelae came on as a sub and he would be the right sub for Miami United.  He would make the Miami FC backline the victim of their own mistakes.  Yet again a backline that saw four tactical changes in total throughout the entire match gave up a third goal in the second minute of stoppage time thanks to Pelae’s alertness and pressure to force the mistake.

That goal assured that Miami United will now have a date set to head up to Jacksonville to face the Armada in the next round of U.S. Open Cup play that will take place on May 23.

Juan Arango/NPSL.com
Photo Credit: Juan Arango/NPSL.com