Here is what we learned from Inter Miami’s 3-2 come-from-behind road win over Montreal
Stop us if you’ve heard this story line before: Inter Miami falls behind early, the opposing team celebrates, feels good about its chances of knocking Lionel Messi and his pink-clad teammates off the MLS pedestal; and then, in the blink of an eye, Miami scores the equalizer, makes a few sublime passes and clinical finishes, and goes on to win.
It happened for the fifth game in a row Saturday night, as Inter Miami trailed CF Montreal 2-0 on the road after 43 minutes and rallied for a 3-2 victory.
With the win, Miami remained atop the MLS Eastern Conference and Supporters Shield race with 27 points on eight wins, two losses and three ties. Inter Miami also leads the league with 35 goals, 14 more than second-place Los Angeles Galaxy and Philadelphia Union.
Once again, Miami coach Tata Martino was asked whether it concerned him that his team has made a habit of falling behind in the first half. Once again, he replied that the team would obviously prefer to score first, but this time, he felt the team’s first-half deficit had more to do with his tactical changes that did not work.
“I should not change the way we play; we are comfortable playing in one way,” Martino said. “(Saturday) I tried to make changes based on Montreal’s strengths, especially how they start games, and when I made changes we fell behind 2-0, so that was a mistake on my part, but after we went back to 4-4-2, we were ourselves again and took control of the game.”
This time, the Miami rally did not require Messi magic. A week after breaking MLS records with a goal and five assists in Miami’s 6-2 rout of the New York Red Bulls, the Argentine captain had a relatively ho-hum performance in his first game on Canadian soil. The most T.V. air time he got was during a brief injury scare.
Instead, it was Matias Rojas, Luis Suarez and Benjamin Cremaschi who came to the rescue.
Just when it seemed Inter Miami would head into halftime scoreless, Rojas scored on a spectacular, curling left-footed free kick and Suarez got the equalizer four minutes later, moments before added time expired, on a close range shot after a Julian Gressel corner kick. It was his 11th goal of the season, which leads the MLS Golden Boot race. Messi is in second place with 10.
“Montreal played a very good first half, we tried with basically a five-man line to press high, but we couldn’t get the ball to the forwards, and that proved costly, they scored two goals and then Matias’ goal got us back into the game,” Martino said. “After that we started to play different, went back to what we normally do with a 4-4-2 formation and we undoubtedly felt more comfortable.”
Key Biscayne teenager Cremaschi, making his first start of the season after missing the first eight games with an injury, scored the go-ahead goal in the 59th minute. Messi got the play started on the counter attack, getting the ball to Rojas, who lofted a pass over the Montreal back line to Cremaschi, who raced toward the goal and slid with his leg outstretched to roll the ball into the net.
“Benja generated a lot in the minutes he played,” Martino said. “It had been a long time since he started a game, he played 70 minutes and we are very satisfied with his performance, and with his game-deciding goal.”
Rojas, the recently signed Paraguayan midfielder, was making his first start, and scored while a visibly annoyed Messi watched from the sideline after briefly leaving the field after receiving medical treatment. Messi had gone down after a foul by Montreal’s George Campbell, and had his left knee checked by a trainer. Under a new MLS rule, if a player receives medical treatment he must exit the field for two minutes, leaving his team a man down.
Martino said he felt Campbell deserved a yellow card, and instead, it was Miami which suffered, having to play two minutes without its captain. He suggested the new rule needed to be evaluated.
Montreal’s opening goal came from a familiar face.
Former Inter Miami midfielder Bryce Duke slotted the ball through the legs of Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender after the right side of Miami’s defense was exposed in transition. Duke received the assist from Jules-Anthony Vilsaint, who had sprinted past Miami defender Sergei Kryvtsov, starting in place of Tomas Aviles, who was serving a suspension for accumulation of yellow cards.
Vilsaint then scored a goal of his own in the 32nd minute.
Messi got a warm welcome at sold out Stade Saputo, where the average ticket was going for $450, the highest average price for an MLS game this season. Hundreds of fans greeted Messi upon the team’s arrival in Montreal on Friday.
Martino made only a few changes to the starting lineup from last weekend’s 6-2 rout of the New York Red Bulls. The starting XI was: Callender, Nico Freire, Kryvtsov, Franco Negri, Marcelo Weigandt, Cremaschi, Sergio Busquets, Rojas, Gressel, Suarez, Messi.
What’s Next for Messi? Will he play vs. Orlando?
Miami is back on the road Wednesday against Orlando City and then returns home for a Saturday night game against D.C. United. Martino has said the team intends to extend its win streak and rack up as many points as possible in the standings before early June, when Messi and other players will report to their national teams for the Copa America. Messi, and potentially Suarez and Rojas, could miss as many as seven MLS games during the Copa depending how far their national teams advance. It remains to be seen whether Messi will take a break at some point over the next few games to stay fit and fresh for Copa America.
This story was originally published May 11, 2024, 9:23 PM.
