It was Christmas in September at Clarke Stadium on Sunday.

Unfortunately for FC Edmonton, they were the ones handing out gifts in a 2-0 loss to Miami FC.

A pair of defensive mistakes cost Edmonton and brought an end to a 10-game unbeaten streak at home.

“We had two very bad mistakes, I thought our back four weren’t at their best (Sunday) from start to finish.” said FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller. “I thought they were sloppy. I didn’t think there was anything between the teams other than those two criminal mistakes that we made.”

Along with their generosity, FC Edmonton weren’t getting much in the way of breaks either, which had not been the case at home for most of the season.

Edmonton had a goal waved off on a mistaken offside call and saw a shot from midfielder Ben Fisk rattle the underside of the crossbar. FC Edmonton had a number of other good chances, including a late one from midfielder Dustin Corea, who had his shot deflected away off the goal line.

“I thought it was going to be one of those days, when we had perfectly good goal disallowed and then we hit the crossbar,” Miller said. “Even the one at the end when Dustin has done so well to get in there, the shot that he has goes over the crossbar from a very close range.

“It is what it is, it’s disappointing. We’ve been terrific this season and by no means is it panic stations. The good thing is that we get a great opportunity on Wednesday (against Rayo OKC) to rectify what was a poor defensive performance at times.”

FC Edmonton started well enough against a surging Miami squad coached by former Italian superstar Alessandro Nesta.

Midfielder Nik Ledgerwood hit a long-range volley six minutes into the game, which forced Miami goalkeeper Mario Daniel Vega to make an excellent save, tipping the ball over the crossbar.

Just seven minutes later, Fisk splintered the crossbar with a rocket from the top of the penalty area, which bounced down on the wrong side of the goal line for FC Edmonton.

Fisk has a strong game in his first start for the club, filling in for Daryl Fordyce, who picked up an injury in practice.

“It was one of those days where the bounces weren’t going our way,” Fisk said. “On another day, I think it could have been 2-0 for us. If you take away those two goals we gave away, we otherwise had some good moments in the game. So we’ll try to take away the positives.”

Playing into a stiff first-half wind, Edmonton were caught trying to play the ball out of the back, allowing Miami to open the scoring. Goalkeeper Matt VanOekel rolled the ball out to midfielder Nicolas Di Biase at the top of his penalty area. Di Biase was immediately put under pressure by Miami FC striker Dario Cvitanich, who took the ball away, then went in and scored.

“If Nico takes his touch forward, he’s in 25-yards of space,” Miller said. “But he takes his touch in front of him and he gets caught in between his feet. These are goals that you actually couldn’t script it any worse.”

Before the end of the first half, it appeared Edmonton had tied the game when Tomi Ameobi turned in a low cross from Adam Eckersley down the left wing.

Ameobi was ruled offside, although replays showed he was onside when Eckersley made his cross.

In the second half, with the wind at their back, Edmonton pushed for the tying goal but had trouble penetrating Miami’s defence, organized by Nesta, who in his day, was considered one of the best defenders in the world.

“We knew to come here to win was going to be very difficult, because Edmonton at home is a very good team,” Nesta said. “But it was an amazing game for us, because the weather is very different than what it is in Miami, with the wind and everything. This is the most important moment of the season for us, and I think we are ready to fight for the league title.”

FC Edmonton conceded a second goal in the 70th minute when defender Papé Diakité let the ball sail over his head allowing Vincenzo Rennella to run on to it and go in alone on VanOekel.

“If we can correct these stupid little mistakes that we’re making, we’ll be fine, there is no doubt about it,” Miller said. “We haven’t become a bad team overnight and it wasn’t a terrible performance here, because we put an awful lot of effort and played some good football at times.”

Dvandiest@postmedia.com

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Game Review

Miami 2, FC Edmonton 0

Man of the match: Dario Cvitanich

Stripped FC Edmonton midfielder Nicolas Di Biase of the ball in the first half and went in to score the opening goal of the contest. Cvitanich proved to be a handful for the Edmonton defence for most of the game.

Game Grades

Offence D

Defence D

Goalkeeping C

Toughness C

Effort C

Why FC Edmonton lost: They made two defensive mistakes, which they were unable to overcome unlike the previous week in Ottawa where they overcame a 2-0 deficit to come back and tie the contest. They didn’t have much luck either, having a legitimate goal waved off and hitting the underside of the crossbar with another effort.

Play of the game: Nicolas Di Biase takes a ball from Matt VanOekel, but promptly turns it over to Miami forward Dario Cvitanich, who then takes it around the goalkeeper and puts it into the net for the opening goal of the game.

Save of the game: Early in the contest, Edmonton midfielder Nik Ledgerwood takes a long-range shot, but Miami FC goalkeeper Mario Daniel Vega is able leap up and tip the ball over the crossbar.

Up Next: FC Edmonton vs Rayo OKC, Wednesday (7 p.m.) Clarke Stadium.