Rodolfo Pizarro strikes late to lift Inter Miami to 3-2 home win over Chicago Fire

They did it again.

Just like 10 days earlier when they fell behind Nashville in the second half only to rally to win it with a stoppage time goal, Inter Miami turned the trick all over again on Wednesday night.

A game that initially appeared to be headed for a 2-1 loss early in the second half and then a 2-2 tie late, wound up turning into a thrilling 3-2 victory for Miami.

That is when Victor Ulloa and Rodolfo Pizarro, two players who came off the bench in the second half, teamed up on a beautifully executed goal with just two minutes left in stoppage time to give Miami the win and send the crowd of 13,196 at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale into a frenzy.

Miami, a team that entered the season with a big splash and high expectations but had underdelivered during the first half, is now 5-9-4 overall and 3-1-2 over its last six games.

The 11 points now gives them 19 at the season’s halfway point, pulled them to within one point of 11th place Chicago and now within eight points of the seventh and final playoff spot held by Montreal and D.C. United at 27 points each.

A chance to make even more headway and pick up three more points awaits on Saturday night at 8 p.m. when Miami will host last place Toronto FC.

Wednesday marked the return of 2020 first round draft pick Robbie Robinson to the starting lineup and the spark a sluggish offense needed he indeed provided as Miami scored three goals in a game for the first time this season.

“I would like us to win a game 3-0 and just enjoy the last six minutes of injury time and just have a bottle of water or a bottle of whatever and just relax, but it is not going to be like that, I know it’s not,” said Miami coach Phil Neville. “We went with a real attacking lineup tonight. I put the most goals in the team in terms of the front three. Indiana (Vassilev) scored in the last game, Gonzalo (Higuain) is our leading goal-scorer, and Robbie (Robinson) is a goal threat.”

Having missed the last two weeks while being in concussion protocol and dealing with a season-long nagging hamstring injury, Robinson returned to the lineup and, after helping create the team’s first goal in the first half, scored a game-tying goal in the 62nd minute.

He came open in front of the net and when Gonzalo Higuain made a brilliant pass from the corner at a sharp angle, Robinson found himself one-on-one with Chicago goalkeeper Bobby Shuttlesworth and knocked it home into the bottom left corner of the net.

The real drama came in the game’s waning minutes when Higuain got things set up down low when he fed a nice centering pass to Ulloa. Ulloa then one-touched it with his left foot and found Pizarro alone on the left side. Shuttlesworth came out to meet him but Pizarro rifled it into the bottom right hand corner of the net for the game winner.

“Honestly, I am very happy for the win and the goal. I think we deserved to win the game,” said Pizarro, who took three weeks off in July to play for his Mexican national team in the Gold Cup. “We suffered more than we should have due to some lapses in concentration. I think the game was up in the air. We struggled to win it, but in the end we took what I think we deserved, which is the win.”

His coach was certainly singing Pizarro’s praises.

“Rodolfo won us the game and what we said in the dressing room after the game is that that boy suffered more than probably any other player in this football club in terms of not scoring, not assisting, probably not being totally 100 percent happy with his form or his fitness or myself or whatever,” said Neville. “But the team believes in him and I believe in him. I have never wavered on my belief for that boy, and his finish was world class.”

For the first time since a 1-1 tie with Philadelphia on July 25, Miami actually scored first and took the lead in a game and right in front of their loyal “La Familia” fans in the north stands.

The goal came in the game’s 34th minute and was a beautifully executed piece between Higuain, Robinson and Indiana Vassilev. It was Higuain who began the play by beating the Chicago defense down the right side. He then launched a perfect centering shot that found Robinson.

Robinson was one-on-one with Shuttlesworth who made a great diving save to his left. But the ball caromed back to Miami forward Indiana Vassilev who beat a Chicago defender and knocked it into the empty net.

Unfortunately Miami’s lead was short lived when Chicago tied the contest just seven minutes later on a perfectly executed corner kick, Luka Stojanovic to Francisco Calvo who headed the ball in off the inside left post past diving Miami keeper Nick Marsman.

Things got even worse for Miami just two minutes into the second half when some loose defense allowed Chicago to take a 2-1 lead when Stanislav Ivanov centered a pass right in front of the net to a wide open Stojanovic who easily rifled one into the top right corner of the net past a diving Marsman.

Said Pizarro: “Honestly, it (tonight) meant a lot. For me, confidence is everything. I had been without confidence for two or three months in which I did not believe in myself. I have now had three weeks in which I have worked on that a lot. I have worked physically, too, but a lot on my confidence and believing in myself again and knowing who I am. I think that is a basic principle, not only in soccer but in any profession.”