Inter Miami CF can’t mathematically move into an Eastern Conference playoff spot after Saturday’s home match against the Houston Dynamo (5 pm ET | UniMas, TUDN; Twitter in US, MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada), but they can narrow the gap with the 2020 regular season’s end less than a month away.
That leaves Wil Trapp dubbing the clubs’ first-ever meeting one they “have to win,” especially after picking up momentum midweek with a 2-1 victory at the New York Red Bulls. It was powered by a late free-kick winner from DP forward Gonzalo Higuain, plus came with key starters like midfielder Rodolfo Pizarro (international duty) and center back Leandro Gonzalez Pirez (suspension) out of the lineup.
“We know that it’s crunch time,” Trapp said. “This season is quickly approaching its regular-season end, and the points we pick up home or away are so important. I think for this group on Wednesday to win the game as we did, with … five starters out of the lineup, was pretty impressive to be honest.
“I think we did a good job of coming together as a group. Obviously you add in the quality of Gonzalo’s goal and that helps immensely, but I think you’re seeing a group start to congeal a little bit more on the field from a team-spirit perspective.”
The East’s top 10 teams qualify for the 2020 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, and Miami are four points removed from fellow expansion side Nashville SC for the final spot. Much can change over these final seven games, though Diego Alonso’s group has little room for error after separate five- and three-game losing streaks this year.
Watch: Gonzalo Higuain nets stunning free kick
More clutch performances from Higuain would help, of course. The former Juventus striker is off the mark in MLS, and now Alonso expects the “world class” Argentine to lead them during this stretch run – both on and off the field.
“We’re lucky to have him here and at his age, 32, and clearly playing at the best level, with experience, with physical ability, to be able to give us a lot,” Alonso said in Spanish. “But the most important [thing] for Gonzalo, why we have him here, what we have decided with him, is his commitment, what he have felt from talking to him, and so far that’s been much more than we hoped for, a big commitment as he has also earned the captaincy.”
Houston, with first-year head coach Tab Ramos, find themselves in a similar position. Their 2-0 midweek win over Texas rivals FC Dallas snapped a six-game winless streak, and they trail the Colorado Rapids for the West’s eighth and final postseason spot on tiebreakers.
Trapp said they haven’t had too much time to prepare, given the schedule’s condensed nature, but they’ve identified an area to exploit. They feel Houston are open to counterattacks, which could give Alonso’s team two straight wins for the first time in 2020.
“They’re very expansive in how they want to play, right?,” Trapp posed. “They want to keep the ball, they want to dominate possession, but in doing that they leave themselves at times open for counterattacks. I think, for us, that’s something we’ve been very good at this year, creating chances on the counter and capitalizing on those chances. So for us, it’s not ceding too much possession to them, of course, but also understanding how we can hurt them and where they’re vulnerable."
