Kevin Johnston

IndyStar correspondent

An old friend returned to town for the first time and helped his new Miami FC club snap the Indy Eleven’s 21-match home unbeaten streak on Saturday at Carroll Stadium.

Dylan Mares and his talented Miami teammates downed Indy 2-0 on goals by forwards Vincenzo Rennella and Kwadwo Poku. Mares, a former Indiana University and Eleven standout, played 73 minutes and completed an efficient 17 of 22 passes. He entered the match as the NASL leader in chances created, forcing Indy to pay him extra attention defensively.

After Miami dissected Indy straight down the middle of the pitch last weekend, Indy coach Tim Hankinson opted to clog the middle with extra bodies. Despite being announced as a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield, Indy came out in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Lovel Palmer stepping into a central defensive midfield role beside Brad Ring.

“I thought generally we took most of their play away from the middle,” Hankinson said. “As you saw, guys like Poku were having to go wide into areas to find any space to play. Keeping them wide is a less-dangerous scenario.”

Hankinson also paired imposing 6-3 center back Kwame Watson-Siriboe next to captain Colin Falvey to plug up passing lanes. For a while, it worked. Miami held plenty of possession early, but found seams with less ease than last week.

“I thought we did a fantastic job (of closing gaps),” Falvey said. “When (Miami’s wingers) did get on the ball they were getting on the ball in areas that weren’t going to hurt us, whereas last week they were getting in areas and running at us directly. We were outnumbered last week; it was too easy. The game plan worked (tonight), that’s the frustrating thing.”

“They’re a better team than us and so we’re having to find ways to stay in the game,” Hankinson admitted. “It makes it a tough night.”

Miami FC coach Alessandro Nesta used a bit of gamesmanship among his starting 11, too. The always-dangerous Rennella was listed as the starter on the right wing, but spent much of the first half on the left side. After the break, he operated mostly on the right.

Nesta allows his attackers plenty of freedom in the middle and final thirds of the field. Mares frequently drifted from the left flank into the middle, and Poku featured basically everywhere in the Miami attack.

The win allowed Miami FC to retain its perch atop the North American Soccer League table with 17 points. Ex-Eleven midfielder Blake Smith also plays for Miami and was available on the bench, but did not appear.

For the Eleven, the loss kept them winless on the season and stuck in sixth place in the NASL standings with 6 points. The Eleven will try to figure things out in training this week before heading north to take on FC Edmonton next Saturday.

“You’ve got to take an honest hard look at yourself, each and every one of us,” Falvey added. “We’ve set standards at this football club that the last eight or nine weeks — at the end of the day it’s not good enough.”