by JAKE NUTTING

Another frustrating night for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the final third of the field was redeemed by penalty goal from substitute Georgi Hristov in the late stages to rescue a point and finish 1-1 with expansion side Miami FC.

It was a rough first half for the visiting Rowdies. In the face of a high-tempo effort from Miami in their inaugural home opener, they struggled to maintain possession on the turf and or connect with forward Tommy Heinemann up top.

Miami got on the board early with an opportunistic corner kick in the 17th minute. The initial service was high and arching to the far post and Miami got a fortunate bounce on the header in the air that allowed midfielder Adailton to get a shot off from short range. Keeper Matt Pickens made the necessary save, but forward Dario Cvitanich took advantage of ball watching on the part of the Rowdies and ran onto the rebound and slipped it into the top corner of the near post.

The Rowdies got their first whiff of the net a few minutes after going down. In the 19th minute, Junior Burgos struck a nice free kick from 20 yards that keeper Daniel Vega made an even better diving save to deny. Kalif Alhassan tried his luck four minutes later when he penetrated the box from the left flank and sent a shot to the far post that Vega comfortably thwarted with another diving save.

There wasn’t much to write home about from either side in the back half of the opening 45. The wide gap between Tampa Bay’s midfield and Heinemann rendered the forward neutralized, and he didn’t do himself many favors by allowing a Miami defender to remain glued to him whenever the Rowdies tried going forward.

Coming out of the halftime break, the Rowdies were able to exploit a noticeable drop in energy from Miami in the midfield. The Rowdies picked up their pace and took control of the possession, but final service into the final third continued to be out of their reach thanks to Miami’s well-organized back line.

Recognizing the ineffectiveness of Burgos, head coach Stuart Campbell went to his bench 15 minutes into the second half to bring on Hristov. The Rowdies were rewarded for the change after only one minute when Hristov caused a turnover and the team finally worked a successful cross into the box for Heinemann. His header bounced tamely to Vega but it was a sign that game was slightly opening up for the visitors.

In an attempt to not lose out in their first road result of the season, Campbell brought attackers Darwin Espinal (74′) and Danny Mwanga (81′) to find an equalizer. Campbell even sacrificed defensive midfielder Juan Guerra after a sturdy shift to get Mwanga on the field.

The Rowdies found their answer in the 84th minute. After an underwhelming night, midfielder Eric Avilla raised his game a bit and began to charge forward more. Avilla helped the Rowdies draw level when he shielded the ball inside in the box and went down after defender Hugo Leroux made the error of trying to tackle from behind.

The veteran Hristov stepped to the spot and showed poise in waiting for Vega to commit to a side before striking the penalty right down the middle.

85'- ROWDIES GOAL! Hristov equalized from the spot! pic.twitter.com/0lEMJMb0qW — Tampa Bay Rowdies (@TampaBayRowdies) April 10, 2016

With momentum behind them, the Rowdies had two clear chances to get a go-ahead goal, but Vega was there again to stymie the rally.

Hristov nearly grabbed a second in the 89th minute when he ripped a curling shot from the top corner of the box that Vega got just enough of a hand on to knock over the bar.

Heinemann got an even better look on net on a breakaway opportunity in stoppage time. He received the ball from 35 yards out and dribbled into the box with space, but Vega came off his line and cut off the angle on the far-post effort.

While the Rowdies showed resolve fighting back against a Miami side that threw quite a few men behind the ball in the second half, the result by no means pretty. They’ll will be looking to finally break open the attack and solve their final third conundrum next week when they host FC Edmonton at Al Lang Stadium.