The victories of Montreal, DC United and NY Red Bulls left Inter Miami with no options
Both teams focused on the attack, and the goalkeepers played a prominent role
Inter Miami said goodbye to their chances of qualifying for the playoffs after losing 0-1 this Saturday against a Cincinnati with a lot of hierarchy, which knew how to overcome with a decisive goal from the Argentine Álvaro Barreal for the return of Leo Messi after 17 days injured.
It is Inter Miami’s first defeat with Leo Messi on the field, which He played 36 minutes when entering the field of play in the second half, trying to find a new miracle that would keep his people alive.
It was seen a Messi without rhythm and physically limpingalthough his talent and quality helped him have several scoring opportunities, including several direct free kicks.
The defeat, added to the victories of Montreal, DC United and NY Red Bulls, left Inter Miami without optionswhich is seven points behind DC United with two games remaining.
Miami hits the post
The start of the game was very attractive and with chances for both teams. The Argentine Tomás Avilés was the one who inaugurated the arrivals festivalcrashed it into the crossbar in the eighth minute after taking a corner, the error generated a counterattack by Cincinnati in which the Brazilian Sergio Santos forgave in the one-on-one match against Drake Callender.
Without respite, arrivals to both areas were combined, two teams focused on attack, and giving the two goalkeepers the spotlight. Callender took it low from Santos, Benja Cremaschi tried a couple of times from outside the area to test Román Celentano.
in two minutes Two more balls hit the woodwork for the localsthe first by Venezuelan Josef Martínez upright in the 22nd minute with a shot from the edge of the area, a few seconds later it was Cremaschi who found the crossbar when attempting a lob to Celentano.
Messi returns
Upon returning from the locker room, Leo Messi began his warm-up exercises, taking all the attention. It was almost more important to know when the Argentine would come on than what was happening on the field.
It was better not to look at the grass, is what many fans would think because Cincinnati came out stronger, further ahead, and they had a double chance after four minutes. First the Colombian Santi Arias and then the Gabonese Aaron Boupendza forced Callender to shine, who was superb with a double save.
Even the post saved him shortly after, again shot by Boupendzawhich bounced off Canadian Kamal Miller and crashed into the woodwork.
In the 54th minute he entered Messi put on the captain’s armband, and along with him, the Brazilian Jean Mota also participated. With the entry of the Argentine the locals went to a defense of four and the countdown began to try to get the three points.
A shot from Mota was the first warning, Celentano responded. But The situation had changed, in the 57th minute Messi caused a foul in the exact placewhere he likes it, where he does best, about five meters from the front and slightly tilted to the right.
He threw it high, but the confidence and hierarchy on the court already seemed different. What they gained in attack, the locals lost in defense, and the change in design left them much more exposed at the back.
This is how visitors from Boupendza arrived, Busquets with a header towards his goal that saved the post, and a point-blank shot by Vázquez that brought out a huge Callender this Saturday. It was six minutes, from the sixty, of a real nightmare for Miami.
What was supposed to be a solution ended up being the undoing of Gerardo Martino’s team. Busquets lost a ball in a key area and A clear opportunity was created for another shot by Boupendza that Callender respondedbut the rebound was left to Argentine Álvaro Barreal, who opened the scoring in the 78th minute.
The match ended with Inter Miami going on the attack looking for a miracle that, this time, did not happen.
– Match sheet:
0. Inter Miami: Callender; Yedlin (Stefanelli, m. 75), Avilés (Messi, m. 55), Kryvtsov, Miller, Allen; Ruiz (Mota, d. 55), Busquets, Cremaschi; Martínez (Taylor, d. 75) and Farías.
Coach: Gerardo Martino
1. FC Cincinnati: Celentano; Arias, Hagglund, Miazga, Murphy, Barreal (Halsey, d. 81); Moreno (Kubo, d. 64), Nwobodo; Vázquez (Badji, d. 88), Acosta (Pinto, d. 87) and Santos (Boupendza, d. 46).
Coach: Pat Noonan
Goals: 0-1, m.78: Álvaro Barreal.
Referee: Rubiel Vázquez (United States). He showed yellow card to Obinna (m. 27) and Celentano for the visitors. There were no expelled.
Incidents: MLS regular league match played at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale in front of around 18,000 spectators.