Messi, Suarez enter late from bench. Ruiz, Campana score. Inter Miami ties Atlanta 2-2
Inter Miami, with a makeshift lineup and its stars coming in late off the bench, took the lead twice on the road against Atlanta United, but settled for a 2-2 tie after a frantic finish in front of a boisterous crowd of 68,000 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium Wednesday night.
Although Miami gained just one point in the standings with the tie, the team is still on pace to win the Supporters Shield with the league’s best record, and can clinch with nine points over the remaining five games. That is the team’s focus, as it would guarantee home field advantage for the entire playoffs, including the MLS Cup final if they get that far.
“I thought it was a tough game, a tough stadium, big crowd, they needed three points and were at home and we had a good performance, came away with a point,” said Miami assistant coach Javi Morales.
Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba were not in the starting lineup and Sergio Busquets was suspended for accumulation of yellow cards. Center backs Tomas Aviles (suspended) and David Martinez (groin injury) were also missing from the Starting XI, as were midfielder Fede Redondo (bench) and Diego Gomez (hamstring injury). Noah Allen was unavailable as he is on concussion protocol.
In all, only three regular starters were in the lineup: goalkeeper Drake Callender, right back Marcelo Weigandt and midfielder Julian Gressel.
Morales explained that with three games in a week, two of them on the road, the coaching staff felt Wednesday’s game was the right time to rest several starters and give other players a chance to get minutes.
David Ruiz, the 20-year-old midfielder from Little Havana, took advantage of his rare starting role, scoring his first goal of the season to put Miami ahead 1-0 in the 29th minute.
Left back Franco Negri, starting for Alba, got the play started. He sent the ball to Leo Campana, who let it go by and into the path of Ruiz, who was racing into the 18-yard box and slotted the ball in. Ruiz was coming off an impressive performance for the Honduran national team in the recent FIFA window, scoring goals against Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.
Miami led 1-0 at halftime.
Atlanta’s Saba Lobjanidze scored the equalizer on a header that leaked through Callender’s arms and then his legs in the 56th minute to energize the Mercedes-Benz crowd. But the celebration didn’t last long. Inter Miami regained the lead three minutes later on a free kick by Campana that deflected off Atlanta’s Dax McCarty. It was Campana’s 30th goal, setting the club’s all-time record.
Callender made a pair of huge saves, including on a 1-on-1 shot by Ajani Fortune, to keep Miami ahead.
Messi entered the game at the 61-minute mark, replacing Gressel. Alba came in six minutes later for Ruiz, and Suarez replaced Campana with 10 minutes to go. Ryan Sailor also entered in the 80th minute to replace injured Sergiy Kryvtsov.
The crowd went wild when Messi stepped on the field. Tens of thousands of fans raised their cell phone cameras to capture the moment. A year ago, a sellout crowd showed up at the same stadium hoping to see Messi in person, but the Argentine icon did not play in that game. This time, they got to see him for 36 minutes (with added time) and they were treated to a wild finish.
Messi returned from a two-month injury layoff last weekend, scored two goals, had an assist, and played 105 minutes in a 3-1 home win against the Philadelphia Union. He nearly made it 3-1 in the 83rd minute against Atlanta, but his close-range shot was blocked at the net by keeper Brad Guzan, and a rebound attempt by Luis Suarez was also denied by Guzan.
Atlanta players seemed to get a boost of energy when Messi came in. They stepped up their game, the momentum shifted in their favor with the help of their crowd, and Russian Aleksei Miranchuk tied the game for good on a blast to the upper left corner in the 84th minute.
Miami coach Tata Martino watched all the drama from a suite as he served a suspension for yellow card accumulation. Assistant coach Jorge Theiler managed the team in Martino’s place.
Martino had said he would manage player minutes during this three-game week. The lineup on Wednesday included: Callender, Campana, Robert Taylor, Ian Fray, Gressel, Kryvtsov, Benja Cremaschi, Negri, Ruiz, Yannick Bright, and Weigandt.
The midfield line of Cremaschi, Bright and Ruiz was a glimpse of the future. Cremaschi is a 19-year-old Key Biscayne native. Ruiz is a 20-year-old Little Havana native and Bright is a rookie from the University of New Hampshire.
Cremaschi signed a contract extension through 2027 last week. His goal is to make the jump to Europe, he said, but in the meantime, he is learning and absorbing all he can from Miami’s world-class veterans.
“I think the young players did a good job,” Morales said. “It’s not easy after not playing a lot to be thrown on the field from one day to the next and in that stadium.”
Inter Miami already clinched a playoff spot and leads the Supporters Shield race with the league’s best record (63 points) with five regular season games to go. If Miami stays atop the standings, it will have home field advantage throughout the MLS playoffs. The magic number is nine. If Inter Miami gets nine points over the next five games, it clinches the Supporters Shield.
Messi and his teammates will stay in Atlanta to train for a few days and then travel to New York City, where they will play NYCFC at Yankee Stadium on Saturday at 2 p.m.
This story was originally published September 18, 2024 at 7:07 PM.