New-look Inter Miami loses sixth game in a row despite season-high 20 shots v. Houston

Shakeups to the starting lineup and a season-high 20 shots were not enough to get Inter Miami out of its funk. The team was held scoreless Saturday night for the fifth time in the past six games, and suffered a 1-0 road loss to the Houston Dynamo.

Miami tied a club record with six consecutive defeats and dropped to 14^th place out of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference with a 2-0-6 record. The team has little time to sulk, as it will be back on the field Wednesday at FIU Stadium in what should be a heated U.S. Open Cup third-round match against Miami FC, which plays in the USL, one rung below MLS.

“We have to keep believing things are going to turn,” said Inter Miami coach Phil Neville. “We’re playing good football, apart from the Dallas game. We’re playing a good style and creating chances. None of our forwards can come into my office and say we weren’t creating chances after tonight. We created chances. We deserved to win the game, but they scored off their chance and we didn’t off ours.

“We can’t make excuses. We’ve got to stick it in the back of the net. We’ve got to keep going and believing in what we’re doing and those chances that are going off the post and ricocheting out will eventually go in.”

Miami had five scoring chances in the closing minutes. Franco Negri had two shots blocked. Josef Martinez, benched for the first time this season, came on in the 80^th minute and took a shot on his first touch of the night, but it sailed high. Shanyder Borgelin’s header missed to the right. And Kamal Miller’s shot in extra time was high and wide left.

“We have dominated many games and had a lot of chances, but we just have to finish these chances,” Negri said. “We have to turn things around starting Wednesday. I have seen many other teams that had bad stretches like this and won championships. I have confidence in this group, and we remain united.”

Neville promised there would be lineup changes for the Houston game, and he kept his word, replacing three starters, including high-profile forward Martinez.

The former MLS MVP and Venezuelan national team veteran was signed from Atlanta this off-season with much fanfare. He was one of the most prolific scorers in league history but remains scoreless through seven games in a Miami jersey (he missed one game while on duty with Venezuela).

“I have a great relationship with Josef, we’ve been speaking over the last two weeks about having a little a little breather, taking him off the firing line, and recovering that confidence and belief,” Neville said of his decision to leave Martinez out of the starting lineup. “He’s been training really hard, understands what we’re doing, and he understood it was a game we were going to play with just one striker. He knows he has to deliver like everyone else on the team.”

Rather than play with a forward tandem of Martinez and Leo Campana, Neville went with just Campana up top and Coco Jean, Rodolfo Pizarro and Nico Stefanelli behind him in the attack, which created more chances than Miami had in recent games.

Miami had 12 shots (three on frame) in the 1-0 loss to Dallas two weeks ago and 10 shots (three on frame) in the 1-0 loss to Cincinnati the week before that. On Saturday, Miami took 20 shots and five were on goal, including a Jean Mota rocket off a Pizarro corner kick in the 67^th minute that bounced off the left post.

Campana had three first-half shots saved by Houston goalkeeper Steve Clark, and Mota had another. Daniel Steres scored the lone goal of the night in the 72^nd minute to secure the win for Houston (4-3-1).

Miami center back Christopher McVey was relegated to the bench, replaced by newly signed MLS All-Star Miller, who was traded from CF Montreal last week. And Ecuadorian newcomer Dixon Arroyo started his first Miami game at defensive midfield, where he will be expected to replace injured captain Gregore.

Neville, asked if he feels he is on the hot seat, said he shoulders the burden of turning things around and has the full support of team ownership.

“I’ve been in football long enough to know that with this type of run comes increased pressure, expectations and demands,” Neville said. “I’m big enough to take that and handle that..We have to turn things around ASAP.”