Miami FC’s Return To FIU Provides Home Cooking in 4-0 Victory

The Miami FC organization could not have asked for a better showing Wednesday night at FIU Soccer Stadium. Playing a goal kick away from the organization’s “home grounds”, Miami FC 2 laid out a statement match versus local qualifier Red Force FC. Miami will not sit idly by and allow this Open Cup tournament to go to waste. 

The action started almost as quickly as it did Sunday night in the match against FC Miami City. The Blues were buzzing early on and dictated over 85% of the possession in the first ten minutes of the match. In the 9^th minute, Jaime Chavez would get played through on goal by an excellent pass from Kris Tyrpak down the left-hand side. Former Miami FC goalkeeper Sebastian Evers, timed Chavez run perfectly and managed to save a ball that was destined for the back of the net.

The game wouldn’t remain level much longer. In the 22^nd minute, Tyler Ruthven played a beautiful cross towards the back post that found Tyrpak’s head and then the back of the net. Despite a few Red Force runs into Miami’s defending half, the Blues kept Red Force penned in to their own half of the field. In the 34^th minute, Martinez almost found Tyrpak again for his 2^nd goal of the night, but a crafty Red Force clearance gave Miami one of their 13 corners in the match.

Tyrpak would find another way to leave his mark on the match. In the 45^th minute, Dylan Mares would send in a cross after a Miami corner was played short. Tyrpak sailed above the Red Force defense and floated a header past the outstretched arms of Evers. The first half would end with Miami dominating possession and taking a 2-0 lead into the break.

Miami would opt to use two substitutions early in the second half replacing Don Smart and Ariel Martinez with two goal scorers from the play-in round, Dario Suarez and Jeff Michaud. Miami would never take their feet off the gas. With a relentless press that kept Red Force inside their own end, Miami picked up a turn over and broke down the right-hand flank. A cross would be fired into Mares unmarked at the six yard box. The effort would be parried away by Evers but Mares would track the rebound and fire it past Evers on a bad angle to increase Miami’s lead to three.

Despite Red Force’s best efforts to be creative and push the game into Miami’s end, their turnovers would come back to haunt them. In the 87^th minute a careless through ball would spring Miami on the counter. Using the recipe for success, Miami screamed down the right hand side before finding Chavez in the technical area. Chavez quickly found Dario Suarez on the back post unmarked and sent in a cross that was smashed home on a volley. Suarez, with a flair for the dramatic, sealed the match for Miami in his consecutive appearance for the club.

Miami’s technical ability and conditioning were vastly superior to Red Force FC. Red Force had a lot to be proud of, keeping a club of professionals off the board for twenty-odd minutes before conceding. Paul Dalglish complimented the Red Force effort by saying “I thought they did themselves proud. We were trying to score as many goals as we could and they managed to hold us to four.” Up next for Miami FC is the third and final act of the #MagicCityClasico. The match will be hosted by Miami FC at FIU Soccer Stadium on May 16^th at 7PM. Tickets are available through the Miami FC website.

We caught up with Miami FC’s manager Paul Dalglish and goal scorer Dylan Mares to discuss the club’s performance. Get their thoughts on the first-round match and the upcoming match below.