Inter Miami has said goodbye to its 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 to the effect of the return of Leo Messi after 17 days injured.
This is Inter Miami’s first defeat with Leo Messi on the field. The Argentine played 36 minutes after entering the field in the second half trying to find a new miracle that would keep his team alive.
However, Messi was seen lacking rhythm and physically limping, although 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 with no options, which is seven points behind DC United with two games remaining.
The start of the game was very attractive and with chances for both teams. The Argentine Tomás Avilés was the one who opened the festival of arrivals, he crashed 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 him in the one-on-one match against Drake Callender.
Without respite, the arrivals to both areas were combined, two teams dedicated to the attack, and giving the two goalkeepers the leading role. 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 locals, the first from the 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 trying a Vaseline to Celentano .
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, more advanced, 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 from a shot by Boupendza, which bounced off Canadian Kamal Miller and hit the woodwork.
In the 54th minute Messi entered, 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 arrived 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 place, where he likes it, where he does best, about five meters from the front and slightly leaning 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.
Thus came visiting chances from Boupendza, Busquets with a header towards his goal that saved the post, and a point-blank shot from Vázquez that drew 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 men. Busquets lost a ball in a key area and a clear chance was created for another shot by Boupendza that Callender responded, but the rebound fell 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.
