ST. PETERSBURG — The Tampa Bay Rowdies used clinical shooting to win the Florida derby on Wednesday, a result that saw them clinch the top spot in the Eastern Conference and guarantee home ground advantage through to at least the conference finals.

This result came despite the Rowdies being heavily out-possessed getting just a 36.9 percent share of the ball. That partially came from opening the scoring in the third minute, which allowed them to sit back and absorb the pressure while Miami was largely toothless.

As with almost every match, Tampa Bay has played this year the side dominated the aerial duels. Despite losing the duels on the whole when the ball was in the air the hosts dominated, winning the ball 66.7 percent of the time. That allowed them to set up where things would start, and prevent Miami crosses.

That aerial dominance stopped Miami from creating opportunities and is reflected in the crossing accuracy statistic. Miami only managed to complete 6.3 percent of crosses. By comparison, The Rowdies completed 28.6 percent of theirs creating more opportunities.

With such a disparity in the crossing accuracy that led to another statistic, shooting accuracy, by completing more crosses the Rowdies were able to send 42.9 percent of their shots on target. By comparison, Miami didn't get a single shot on target in the match.

This is reflected in the shot chart seen above, the Rowdies had only three shots on target. Miami only managed one shot in the box. Reflecting another strong Tampa Bay defensive performance.

Photo courtesy Tampa Bay Rowdies

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