Assessing The 90: Hartford Athletic Fall to Miami FC in "Embarrassing" Performance
"I just don't know what team showed up tonight, because that wasn't my team...We didn't play football, we didn't fight." - Omid Namazi
Costly defensive mistakes, lack of offensive production, and an inability to finish what were half-chances at best. Those have been the issues plaguing Hartford Athletic all season, and they continued in a 3-0 home loss to Miami FC on Saturday.
In what head coach Omid Namazi called an “embarrassing” performance, his side lacked energy from the start and struggled to threaten the Miami goal throughout the night, failing to take advantage of a sold-out Trinity Health Stadium crowd in a 3-0 defeat.
Ahead of the game, Namazi made only one change to the initial XI from last week’s 2-0 loss in Pittsburgh, with Andre Lewis returning from a red card suspension. He replaced Kembo Kibato in the midfield in an otherwise unchanged lineup.
Elsewhere, Hartford continued to roll out a five-man backline. Triston Hodge, Connor McGlynn, and Modesto Méndez anchored the defense centrally while Edgardo Rito and Luke Merrill filled out the wingback roles. Joe Rice once again got the call between the sticks after earning his third straight USL Championship Save of the Week honor.
In the midfield, Lewis was joined by Danny Barrera and Juan Pablo Torres, while Antoine Hoppenot and Prince Saydee once again served as the striker pairing in the 5-3-2.
Rice was the first keeper called into action in the early stages of the game when a central through ball split the Hartford defense to send Miami through on goal. The shot-stopper sprinted off his line early, however, ending the play with a sliding denial outside of the 18 to keep the game scoreless.
With the exception of a saved Danny Barrera free kick at the other end just minutes later, that was the only real half-chance of the game for either side through a relatively uneventful opening 15 minutes.
Things began to take a positive turn for Hartford just five minutes later, as Barrera found the feet of McGlynn in open space at the top of the box. His first-time effort was a powerful one towards to roof of the net, but Adrian Zendejas was equal to the strike, confidently palming the best chance of the half for Hartford over the bar and out for a corner. The save was one of three that Zendejas made in the opening 45, who faced eight shots.
Despite being outshot 4-0 in the opening half-hour, it was eventually the visitors who struck first with their first shot of the game in the 32nd minute. It started when Hodge gave away the ball under pressure from the back, before being beaten by the quick feet of Florian Valot at the touchline. Valot found the feet of an open Joaquín Rivas at the penalty spot, whose low shot from close range took a deflection off of the outstretched leg of Modesto Méndez and past Joe Rice to give Miami the 1-0 lead.
Hartford continued to press as the half went on, but Miami remained disciplined defensively and held onto the narrow 1-0 lead at the break. The best chance of the latter part of the half for the hosts came when Barrera’s low shot from outside the box bounced past the right post, but it was not enough to beat Zendejas as Hartford went into the break down a goal for the third straight week.
Things would go from bad to worse for Hartford just 12 minutes into the second half, when Méndez’s late challenge made contact with the leg of Bolu Akinyode in the box. Although minimal, the contact was enough to see the newly-signed center back give up his second penalty in as many games, which Rivas calmly converted to double the lead for the visitors.
Rivas would come within inches of a third goal with just over ten minutes to go when his glancing header from the edge of the six bounced just wide. He eventually did complete his hat trick just minutes later, curling a left-footed effort past an outstretched Rice at the far post to put the game out of reach in the 83rd minute, sealing the 3-0 win for the visitors.
In a week leading up to the game where both Namazi and Barrera stressed the importance of limiting individual errors and defensive lapses, these season-defining issues continued to plague the Green and Blue, who failed to create much in the way of a direct goalscoring threat with the exception of a trio of shots on goal in the first half.
On the other end, an untimely deflection and late foul in the box extended an unfortunate two weeks for newly-signed center-back Modesto Méndez, digging Hartford into a hole from which their lackluster attack could not climb out of.
The job does not get any easier for Hartford as their August home stretch continues. A quick turnaround will see the Green and Blue host the Eastern Conference leading Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Wednesday in what will be the second meeting in 11 days between the two clubs. Hartford fell 2-0 to the Riverhounds at Highmark Stadium just last weekend.
With any remaining chance at making playoffs growing slimmer and slimmer, a midweek win is an absolute must for a Hartford team who are struggling to do just about everything right now. Ever since their 2-1 win against New Mexico at the beginning of the month, what could have been a late summer turnaround has so far culminated into a pair of uninspired, lackluster performances that have seen the Green and Blue shut out twice, offering next to nothing in the attack.
With two home games in the space of four days to round out the month of August, Hartford will hope to scrape together any form of momentum they can to put on one final late-season push. However, losing a six-point swing against a team also fighting for the final spot is never encouraging, and on Saturday it was not close.