Inter Miami enters Orlando City road game aiming to contain Nani, avenge June loss

Inter Miami, coming off its first win in eight games, heads to a Wednesday night game at Orlando City with an injection of energy and motivation.

Miami players are eager to build off last weekend’s victory over CF Montreal and avenge a home loss to Orlando City that still stings nearly six weeks later.

“The last two days have been a breath of air in terms of the mood around the place considering what we’ve been through the last five weeks because of the defeats we were having,” coach Phil Neville said. “There’s a real buzz around the place. We’re going into a game against Orlando in really good shape in terms of the attitude of the players.”

Inter Miami (3-8-3, 12 points) is trying to climb out of last place in the Eastern Conference standings with 20 games remaining. Orlando (8-4-4, 28 points) sits in second place in the conference.

The last time they played, on June 25 in Fort Lauderdale, a sellout crowd including U.S. winger Christian Pulisic and more than 250 Orlando City fans were on hand as Orlando rallied late for a 2-1 victory.

Gonzalo Higuain gave Miami a 1-0 lead in the 67th minute, and Orlando scored twice in the final 20 minutes. Chris Mueller scored the equalizer off a perfect cross from Nani and then Nani scored the winner in the 80th minute.

“It was one of our performances that made me really proud, but we ultimately were beaten by one player, and that’s Nani,” said Neville. “That’s not being disrespectful to the rest of their players, who are really good. But one player produced two moments of magic to beat us, which left a bitter pill in our mouth.”

A few hundred Inter Miami fans are expected to make the trek to Exploria Stadium for the 8 p.m. match (My33, CW34).

“We want our supporters to enjoy, it’s a local derby, and I think the atmosphere in that stadium will be really electric,” Neville said. “I told the players, ‘If you’re a footballer, these are the games you want to play in.’ ”

Midfielder Rodolfo Pizarro rejoins the Inter Miami roster after missing a few games while on duty with the Mexican Gold Cup team. Center back Leandro Gonzalez Pirez is suspended with yellow card accumulation. Center back Ryan Shawcross missed the Montreal game with back spasms and is questionable for Wednesday.

With Pirez out and Shawcross maybe not at 100 percent, the other players on the back line will have to step up to contain Orlando City’s attackers. Nani has scored three goals in five games against Miami.

Right back Kelvin Leerdam said he is ready for the challenge.

“Obviously, Nani is a very important player for Orlando,” Leerdam said. “The last game we played against them, we had him good under control, he had two great moments — a fantastic cross and a great shot — but overall, that’s what decided the game. Two magical moments from him. That’s what people expect from attackers. Even if they are not in the game, they can change the game with one or two actions, and that’s what he did.”

Leerdam said the Orlando game is critical.

“Winning makes everything easier,” he said. “A win would be massive for us because it’s a big rival for us, a team from the same state. … We know we are down and have to climb all the way up, but sometimes it’s nice when you have to earn it the hard way. I think we’re heading in the right direction.”