Inter Miami kept its first clean sheet and earned its first point on the road in a scoreless draw with Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The team defended particularly well, limiting the hosts to just one shot on target, and created the bulk of the match’s chances.
“I thought the team played a complete match. I’d say it’s the most complete match we’ve played. It undoubtedly took us a bit to get our rhythm as the away team, but I liked what I saw. I think the team took this match very seriously and we deserved a win,” said manager Diego Alonso. “It’s the first time we get a clean sheet too. I think this was the [fourth] time in more than 60 matches that Atlanta was held scoreless in this stadium. That speaks to the potential of our opponents and what we did tonight against them.”
“I’m so happy because I think we played a great game and we deserved more than we got. I think we deserved to score a goal. They had only one chance in the first half and that was it,” added former Atlanta defender Leandro González Pirez. “Defensively, we were so good and worked so hard. We tried to press them the whole time and we tried to defend high up the field. I think we played a great game defensively and got the clean sheet. Obviously that was important for us, but the most important thing was that we got a point and played a great game.”
“I felt like we could’ve taken more from this match. I think we were better than our opponents,” said Nicolás Figal. “We had more chances, we threatened their goal and created many opportunities, and they pretty much didn’t reach our area. We’re leaving with a bitter taste in our mouths because we could’ve done a bit more, but I’m happy that we kept a clean sheet.”
While the team was unable to find the winning goal, the group felt they created the kinds of chances that would result in a goal and a win on another day.
“We have to keep working on our end product, looking to continue generating more in attack. To me it seems we had great opportunities today to open the scoring. A lot of times we wasted good chances, but the team found the space and chances we needed,” said Alonso. “We were missing the clarity to be decisive, but we have to keep insisting, keep creating chances, and above all else, play complete matches like we did today.”
“I think the team showed today that we have important offensive firepower, but we didn’t get that bit of luck that you need,” stated Figal. “I’m confident and don’t have any doubt that we’ll sharpen our aim and find the mark in the coming matches.”
“I think we need to keep working, we need to keep trying to bury our chances. I think that when the goal opens up, we’ll score a lot of goals and we will get a lot of wins,” added González Pirez.
González Pirez was particularly pleased with the team’s physicality and pressing, as it made it difficult for his former team to get a foothold in the match.
“We tried to press them the whole time, from the first half forward. The reality is that our possessions were short because they were generally exposed in defense so we tried to attack quickly, but we were always pressing. We won the ball in midfield a bunch in the first half. They never touched our box, aside from an early cross to Cubo [Erick Torres]. After that they didn’t step in our box. We set out to press them from the start.”
“In the second half, it seemed we were more physical than them. We won more ground, so they finished the match holding on while we pushed for victory. Generally, we tried to be the protagonists and press them the whole match.”
