FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (August 25, 2024) — Chattanooga Football Club came up against Southeast Division rivals Inter Miami CF II for the third and final time of the regular season on Sunday night and fell to a 5-1 defeat.
Chattanooga FC striker Mehdi Ouamri scored his tenth goal of the MLS NEXT Pro season in the 19th minute with a superb diving header from a pinpoint-accurate cross sent in by Milo Garvanian.
However, Miami proved too strong in attack on the night and scored three times in the first half and added a couple more in the second.
"We gave up an early goal, and we fought back to get a nice goal from Mehdi [Ouamri], and then we gave up a late goal after the hydration break," said Sporting Director and Head Coach Rod Underwood after the match. "I was hoping we could get into the break at 1-1, so we could make the adjustments we needed to. We became more dangerous and pressed higher in the second half, but I felt like we weren't good enough in the moments to press. We've been struggling to keep the ball for the past four or five games now, and that's one of our core principles. At the end of the day, we have five games to go, three at home and two on the road to get ourselves into a playoff spot. It's still tight enough were we could finish in a decent position, but we just have to pick up points."
The result sees CFC drop to eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings to remain in the final playoff position.
Chattanooga FC will now look forward to returning home for a match at Finley Stadium on Sunday, September 1st during Labor Day weekend against Atlanta United 2, which will see the return of fireworks. Tickets are on sale now.
Noteworthy
- Sporting Director and Head Coach Rod Underwood named an unchanged line-up from the team that started at Crown Legacy FC last weekend
- Anatolie Prepelita captained the side for the second time this season
- Co-captains Jean Antoine and Alex McGrath returned to the matchday squad after recovering from short-term injuries—McGrath entered the match as a substitute in the 70th minute, while Antoine was an unused substitute
- Mehdi Ouamri scored his team-leading tenth goal of the MLS NEXT Pro season
- Milo Garvanian recorded his fifth assist of the MLS NEXT Pro season to bring him level with captain Alex McGrath in joint-second—Taylor Gray leads the team in assists with six
Box Score
Inter Miami CF II (10W-6L-6D, 0SOW, 36 pts.) - Chattanooga FC (7W-8L-8D, 6SOW, 35 pts.)
Chase Stadium | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Final score:
MIA: 5
CFC: 1
Scoring summary:
2': Flores De La Paz - MIA
19': Ouamri - CFC
36': Yuval - MIA
40': Morales - MIA
72': Flores De La Paz - MIA
90'+6: Carmichael - MIA
Stats (MIA/CFC):
Possession: 56% / 44%
xG: 4.14 / 1.19
Shots: 21 / 9
Shots on goal: 13 / 3
Blocked shots: 6 / 3
Total passes: 476 / 402
Passing accuracy percentage: 91 / 89.3
Corners: 6 / 2
Free-kicks: 16 / 17
Total crosses: 4 / 3
Offsides: 0 / 1
Goalkeeper saves: 2 / 8
Clearances: 3 / 8
Fouls: 18 / 17
Discipline:
22' - MIA: Jose Casas de Abadal (Caution)
68' - MIA: Alejandro Flores De La Paz (Caution)
82' - CFC: Duvan Viafara (Caution)
84' - CFC: Andres Jimenez Aranzazu (Caution)
Line-ups:
MIA starters: Cole Jensen; Nykolas Sessock, Ryan Sailor, Giovanni Marchetti, Franco Negri; Ricardo Montenegro, Jose Casas de Abadal; Santiago Morales (Idoh Zeltzer-Zubida 89'), Cohen Yuval (Cesar Ezequiel Abadia-Reda 80'), Alejandro De La Paz (Lovens Delinois 80'); Ryan Carmichael
Substitutes not used: Owen Finnerty, Tyler Hall, Tye Barton, Samuel Basebe, Derrek Martinez, Dairon Reyes
Head coach: Federico Higuain
CFC starters: Jonathan Burke; Milo Garvanian, Anatolie Prepelita (C), Duvan Viafara, Joseph Perez; Andres Jimenez Aranzazu, Jude Arthur (Farid Sar-Sar 46'), Luis Garcia Sosa (Markus Naglestad 53'); Minjae Kwak (Jalen James 70'), Taylor Gray (Alex McGrath 70'), Mehdi Ouamri (Jesse Williams 80')
Substitutes not used: Jean Antoine, Ethan Koren
Head Coach: Rod Underwood
Post-match reaction
