Gonzalo Higuain issued red card after Inter Miami loss to Montreal, will miss next game

A slow start and another late defensive breakdown proved costly for Inter Miami, which lost 2-1 on the road to the Montreal Impact and lost ground in the playoff race with time running out.

Miami also lost Gonzalo Huguain for next Saturday’s home game against Orlando, as the Argentine forward was issued a red card after the match for berating a referee.

SBI Soccer first mentioned it on Twitter and MLS confirmed it Sunday night: “Inter Miami CF forward Gonzalo Higuain was issued a red card for offensive, insulting, or abusive language or gestures directed toward the referee.”

Howard Webb, General Manager of the Professional Referee Organization, also confirmed it Sunday night via email. “Higuain was shown a red card after the final whistle, but while still on the field of play, for using offensive/insulting/abusive language to the referee.”

Higuain will miss the Saturday home game against Orlando City.

Clubs have 24 hours to appeal red cards and send-offs.

Miami struggled to score Saturday and failed to capitalize against a Montreal team that had won just one of its past eight games.

Inter Miami dropped to 5-11-3 and remains in 12^th place in the Eastern Conference, two spots away from a playoff berth with four games remaining. Montreal (7-10-2) jumped to eighth place with 23 points.

“Two goals, two mistakes,” said Inter Miami midfielder Victor Ulloa. “They cost us dearly. We gave up an early goal and the second goal, we gave the ball away, were looking for the foul, and they come and punish us. We missed a great opportunity to get into the run for the playoffs.”

Coach Diego Alonso also blamed Miami’s loss on mistakes.

“Both of their goals came on our mistakes, especially the second one, the game was tied at that point and it was anybody’s game,” Alonso said. “There was a clear foul on Nico Figal that didn’t get called, we have the footage, and we got distracted, didn’t mark the player and that mistake cost us. Also, I didn’t like how we played the first 20 to 25 minutes of the game. It took us too long to get going.”

After the game, Higuain, Figal, Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, and Blaise Matuidi could be seen complaining to the officials. Gonzalez Pirez went down in the box in the final seconds of stoppage time and felt he was fouled.

Higuain’s frustrations continued. The Argentine forward, who came to Inter Miami from Juventus last month and is the league’s highest-paid player at $7 million a year, has scored just one goal for Miami in six games and that was on a free kick.

Higuain was involved in the attack all night, and took numerous shots, but they were either deflected by defenders or saved by Montreal goalkeeper James Pantemis.

Miami took 13 shots, four on frame, against a Montreal defense that had been the second-leakiest in the league with 35 goals conceded in 18 games. For the season, Inter Miami has scored 19 goals in 19 games, and that one goal average continued Saturday.

Brek Shea doesn’t have the slick moves or big contract that some of his more famous teammates have. But it seems whenever Inter Miami has been desperate for a goal this season, the tall striker with the long blond hair delivers.

He did it again Saturday night. Trailing after conceding an early goal, Miami got the equalizer from the journeyman Shea. He scored in the 33^rd minute on a left-footed deflected shot off a long assist from Gonzalez Pirez.

For the second game in a row, Shea scored the lone goal for Miami.

Shea, the 30-year-old former U.S. national team player, had bounced around several MLS teams and was written off after a torn ACL in 2019. He was let go by Atlanta United, and signed by Inter Miami’s USL affiliate Fort Lauderdale CF in February. He rehabbed the knee and in June was moved up to the Inter Miami roster.

He has been a surprise weapon on a team that has had trouble finding the back of the net all season. He is the team’s second-leading scorer behind Lewis Morgan with four goals. In addition to Saturday’s goal, Shea scored a game-winning header goal against Atlanta United, a header against Orlando City, and the lone goal in a 1-1 tie against Atlanta last Wednesday.

Montreal took control of the game in the opening minutes, repeatedly getting through Miami’s midfield and behind its defense. Bojan, the Spaniard who previously played for Barcelona, gave the Impact a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute with a shot that got past goalkeeper John McCarthy, playing in place of injured captain Luis Robles.

The Impact’s winning goal came in the 80^th minute by Maximiliano Urruti, who found himself unmarked when he received Bojan’s setup pass. Gonzalez Pirez went in for the slide tackle, but it was too late.

The match was played at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., where the Impact’s home games are being held due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

The absence of playmaker Rodolfo Pizarro, who has missed four games while on Mexican national team duty, has been felt. He is expected to be back in the Miami lineup for the Oct. 24 home game against Orlando City. Defender Andres Reyes is also expected to be back from injury for that game.

“We got off to such a bad start, mentally we have to be more cued in from the get-go,” Ulloa said. “Offensively is the hardest part to accept. We’re missing that final pass, and the confidence to make it so we can start scoring more goals. We have four games left and we’re going to push and try to make the playoff run.”