Inter Miami rests eight starters, ties D.C. 1-1 ahead of Leagues Cup semifinal
With his eye on the Leagues Cup semifinal four days away, Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano made eight changes to the starting lineup for the MLS road game against last-place D.C. United Saturday night and settled for a 1-1 tie.
The game began with Lionel Messi, Oscar Ustari and Jordi Alba back home in South Florida and Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Rodrigo De Paul on the bench.
Miami’s patchwork starting lineup looked rusty and disjointed, trailed 1-0 at halftime, but the dynamics of the game changed drastically when Mascherano unleashed Suarez, Busquets, De Paul and Baltasar Rodriguez 10 minutes into the second half.
Rodriguez, the Argentine 22-year-old who has battled injuries much of the season, evened the game at 1-1 with golazo from a difficult angle off a cross from De Paul. His powerful right footed strike was one of the most stunning goals of the MLS season and gave Miami a chance to get at least one point as it tries to climb up the Eastern Conference table.
“I was happy for Balta, not just the goal, but how he played when he entered the game,” Mascherano said. “He has had injuries, and had another minor one this week, so we gave him minutes and were happy to see him finish the game well.”
With the tie, Inter Miami remained in fifth place in the MLS Eastern Conference standings, and holds three games in hand over its competition with nine games remaining in the regular season. Miami has 46 points and trails first-place Philadelphia by eight points. Cincinnati is in second place with 52 points, Nashville is third with 50 and Orlando is fourth with 47.
Mascherano and his players insisted they would not overlook D.C. United, that they would not look ahead to the Leagues Cup semifinal, but the starting lineup indicated where the team’s priorities were this week.
“We have played 41 games, more than any other team, our players needed some rest, we have an important game Wednesday and then a game on the West coast next weekend, so we decided this game was an opportunity to give minutes to players who have not played much this season because we will need them later,” Mascherano said.
“We came for three points, but go home with one.”
The Leagues Cup semifinal against Orlando City is a game Inter Miami desperately wants to win, especially after getting trounced twice by the state rival this season by a combined score of 7-1.
So, Mascherano rested most of the regular starters Saturday night. The only three players in the Starting XI against D.C. who also played in the Leagues Cup quarterfinal earlier in the week were Gonzalo Lujan, Telasco Segovia, and Tadeo Allende.
Team captain Messi and goalkeeper Ustari were not on the injured list but did not travel. Mascherano said Friday Messi, who had been slowed by a mild hamstring injury, was staying home to rest and 39-year-old Ustari did the same.
Alba (knee injury) did not travel. Suarez, Busquets, De Paul, Maxi Falcon, and Yannick Bright were on the bench, along with Will Yarbrough, Ian Fray, Santi Morales, and Baltasar Rodriguez.
Miami’s starters against D.C. were goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo, Marcelo Weigandt, Lujan, Ryan Sailor, Noah Allen, David Ruiz, Toto Aviles, Benja Cremaschi, Segovia, Fafa and Allende.
It was the first start of the season for Sailor, who had played just five minutes all season, and the first game for Ruiz since March 13, when he was injured against Jamaican team Cavalier in the Concacaf Champions Cup. Allen, the 21-year-old defender from Pembroke Pines, wore the captain’s armband.
Miami trailed 1-0 at halftime after a nice finish by 21-year-old D.C. native Jackson Hopkins at the 13-minute mark. He scored on a powerful cross-body shot following a corner kick. Miami almost went down 2-0 in the 29th minute, but goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo made a huge save on a shot by Japanese midfielder Hosei Kijima.
“If we had played the first half like we did the second half, we could have gotten three points, but it wasn’t easy for those players because they did not have continuity playing together and some of them had gone a long time without playing,” Mascherano said.
“I told them at halftime that it was on me that I made eight changes and that makes things complicated, so I told them not to feel the weight of the result, to play freely and go forward. I understand how hard it is to make eight rotations and put them all together to play. I thanked them for fighting until the end.”
D.C. has been struggling all season, is on an 11-game winless streak and at the bottom of the standings with 21 points. D.C. has conceded 53 goals over 28 games. Only the Los Angeles Galaxy has given up more goals.
Striker Christian Benteke, D.C.’s biggest star, was suspended Saturday due to yellow card accumulation.
This story was originally published August 23, 2025 at 8:08 PM.