Higuain scores first-half hat trick, but Inter Miami settles for 4-4 tie vs Cincinnati

Gonzalo Higuain has endured his share of knocks this season from fans and media who felt he was too old and washed up to be an impact player for Inter Miami.

But Saturday night, in front of a home crowd that included team co-owner David Beckham and his singer friend Marc Anthony, a rejuvenated Higuain proved he hasn’t lost his touch.

The 34-year-old Argentine striker scored a brilliant first-half hat trick to give Inter Miami a 3-2 lead over FC Cincinnati and earn him a standing ovation when he was subbed out in the 68^th minute. But none of that made up for the frustration he felt after the team squandered the lead in the final 10 minutes and settled for a 4-4 tie that felt like a loss.

“I’m very upset right now, very upset,” a dejected Higuain said, shaking his head as he opened his post-match press conference. “It was a game we should have won, but we gave up four goals, three on counterattacks. We could have moved up to seventh place. Personally, I am happy with the three goals, but I’m never completely happy when the team doesn’t win.”

It was Higuain’s first hat trick since Feb 2018 when he scored three for Juventus against Sassuolo. He also became the first Inter Miami player to score three first-half goals in club history and is the fourth player to score a first-half hat-trick this MLS season.

But Higuain was in no mood to discuss accolades after his team conceded four goals at home in a pivotal game in the MLS playoff race. A win would have moved Inter Miami up to the seventh and final playoff spot with 12 games remaining and one game in hand. Instead, the tie kept the team in 11^th place.

Miami nearly lost the game after giving up goals in the 81^st and 86^th minutes. Left back Christopher McVey scored in the sixth minute of extra time to salvage a draw.

“It’s difficult to talk about this game…I am happy with my three goals, but I have a sour taste,” Higuain said. “It’s a huge frustration because we did a lot of great things to win, and their goals were due to our errors. But we win as a team and lose as a team. We must look forward, correct our mistakes, and build on the good things we did.”

Coach Phil Neville had mixed emotions after the tie. He was proud that his team, which ranked last in scoring in the East, scored four goals. But he was livid with his team’s defending, saying “we defended like little boys.”

“There’s two sides to how I feel, I feel really angry about one aspect of our play and really thrilled with another aspect,” he said. “I sat here every week and spoke about finishing chances, being ruthless and we got that, and some of our play was so good. On the other hand, we defended naively, didn’t compete. We lacked discipline and concentration and that’s unacceptable.”

He said it was the team’s poorest defensive effort since a 5-1 road loss at Austin the second game of the season. Inter Miami failed to defend simple crosses into the box and Brandon Vazquez capitalized with goals in the 81^st and 86^th minutes for Cincinnati. The visitors’ two first-half goals were scored by Brenner.

Miami briefly took a 4-2 lead early in the second half when Robert Taylor back heeled a pass to Alejandro Pozuelo, who knocked it in, but it was overturned when Taylor was ruled offside by video replay.

Neville, a former defender with Manchester United and the English national team, said he joked with Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan after the match that he wished he could have gone into that game to defend the crosses into the box.

“That’s a massive, massive, massive two points dropped on a night when the results (from other games) have gone for us, when it could have been a pivotal moment for us,” Neville said. “Defending-wise it was unacceptable to lose..no, to draw to that Cincinnati team.”

One positive was the play of Higuain, who brought back memories of his heyday in Europe’s top leagues.

His first goal was a world-class rocket of a shot to the upper right corner on a free kick in the 23^rd minute. The power and placement of the shot displayed his set piece mastery. Higuain scored again in the 37^th minute on a left-footed shot from the six-yard box on a through-ball from Pozuelo. His third goal was also on a set piece. He took a penalty kick after Jean Mota was taken down in the box, and calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner after Cincinnati’s goalkeeper guessed the wrong way.

His teammates hugged him after all three goals, as the DRV PNK Stadium stands erupted.

“Gonzalo’s finishing was outstanding, his first goal was out of this world,” Neville said.

Neville said he replaced Higuain with Campana because he felt Higuain was starting to look a bit fatigued and Campana, who missed the previous game with a knee injury, is the team’s leading scorer. “We had Campana to bring in, and that was a big substitution for us, it wasn’t as if we’re putting on someone who’s not in form, not playing well,” Neville said. “Gonzalo was beginning to tire and they were getting control in that middle area.”

Higuain said he respected the decision but could have continued.

“Imagine, I had three goals, was toe to toe with their last defender, clearly, I could have gone on playing,” Higuain said. “It was a coach’s decision and I have to respect it. But yes, I could have gone on. I had no physical problem.”

The coach said his substitutions were all in the attacking side of the field because he felt they needed two second half goals to secure the win. He brought in Campana, Ariel Lassiter, Bryce Duke, and new French winger Coco Jean.

Neville said he and his staff toyed with making defensive changes late but felt the Cincinnati goals were not due to tactical errors on Miami’s part but rather individual errors. He pointed out that in both cases it was one Cincinnati player in the box against multiple Miami defenders.

Higuain said Neville had told the team all week that the key to winning was stopping Cincinnati’s front three. They failed to do so and paid the price.

“The most frustrating thing is we made the same mistake over and over and didn’t learn from them,” Higuain said. “We went into halftime knowing what their strengths were and it happened to us again. We have to work harder on the mental side, to correct first-half mistakes in the second half. Offensively I think we had our best game of the season, but defensively we all need to do better.

“It’s not about defenders, midfielders, and forwards. We are a team. Everyone needs to work together to score goals and to defend.”

Miami now plays back-to-back games on the road. The team heads west for a Wednesday night game against the San Jose Earthquakes and then plays at CF Montreal next Saturday.