Inter Miami lost its first game of the season against Montreal 2-3 at Chase Stadium. The Florida team noticed the absence of Leo Messi, who was not even called up. The Argentine rested to arrive in the best condition for the round of 16 match of the Concacaf Champions League, which will be played this Wednesday.
‘Tata’ Martino also reserved Busquets and Suárez although, unlike the 10, they came out in the second act. Of the ex-Azulgranas, only Jordi Alba was a starter, who scored a great goal to get his team into the game.
The first 40 minutes of the match were clearly dominated by Montreal. The Canadians had two obvious scoring chances through Cóccaro’s boots, one of them after a rude error by Callender, Inter Miami’s goalkeeper. The one who did not forgive was Álvarez, who with a header from a corner beat the Garzas goalkeeper in the 13th minute.
As the match went on, Inter Miami became more comfortable. In the final stretch of the first half, Robert Taylor had three chances to equalize the match, the clearest of which was him hitting the woodwork after a great pass from Gressel. The Finn did not take advantage of any of the three and Montreal led at the break.
Given the ineffectiveness of his team, ‘Tata’ made a triple substitution in the 66th minute, bringing on Busquets. The modifications took effect, since Campana, in the 71st minute, equalized with a good header.
The game was facing Inter Miami, since Suárez was ready to come on and the herons had scored the tying goal. However, in the 75th minute, Cóccaro, who had missed two very clear chances in the first half, did not fail in the third instance. Another header goal, the third of the game, and also in a strategic play.
The defensive bleeding of the Florida team did not stop and, three minutes later, the Nigerian Ibrahim made it 1-3 on the scoreboard. The game seemed doomed, but Jordi Alba, in the 80th minute, scored a great goal from outside the area. The Spanish full-back shot first with his left foot and his shot entered the corner of the goal defended by Sirois.
Despite the former Blaugrana’s formidable goal, the score remained at 2-3. The herons, without Leo Messi, lost their first game of the season before hosting Nashville this Wednesday in the second leg of the round of 16 of the Concacaf Champions League.
Inter Miami: Callender; Ruiz, Avilés (free, m.66), Kryvtsov, Allen, Alba; Gressel (Gómez, m.66), Redondo (Busquets, m.66), Sunderland (Suárez, m.77); Campana y Taylor (Borgelin, m.83).
CF Montreal: Sirois; Ruan, Corbo, Waterman, Alvarez, Lassiter (Edwards, m.77); Choiniere, Piette (Beast, m.68); Vilsaint (Yankov, m.68), Cockatoo (Ibrahim, m.77) and Duke (Martinez, m.46).
Goals: 0-1, m.13: Álvarez. 1-1, m.71: Bell. 1-2, m.75: Cóccaro. 1-3, m.78: Ibrahim. 2-3, m.80: Dawn.
Referee: Aleksandar Zhelyazkov (USA). He cautioned Redondo, Avilés, Kryvtsov, Campana and Allen for the locals, as well as Vilsaint and Edwards for the visitors.
