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Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were both on the scoresheet and, on most other nights, that would be enough to make them the heroes. Not on Saturday. They were outplayed and outshined by a longtime teammate, Jordi Alba, who almost single-handedly dragged Inter Miami to a come-from-behind point.
Alba assisted both of his Barcelona teammates in the first half but, for a while, it looked like it would all be for nothing. With just minutes left in the game, Miami trailed St. Louis City SC 3-2. The Herons needed a hero.
And that hero was Alba, who beat an offside trap and dashed one-on-one with Roman Burki. He made no mistake once there, scoring to make it 3-3 to cap off arguably his most dominant game in a Miami shirt.
Three times, St. Louis seized the lead and, three times, Miami fought back. A stunner from Chris Durkin was cancelled out by Messi. A goal from Indiana Vassilev, a former Inter Miami midfielder, drew a response from Suarez, Inter Miami’s new star striker. Suarez then scored an unfortunate own goal, seemingly dooming the Herons.
Nope… there was no dooming Alba. In Messi’s last pre-Copa America game, it was the Spanish fullback who stole the show, earning three huge points as Miami enter a new phase of the season without the Argentine.
GOAL rates Inter Miami’s players from Chase Stadium…
Goalkeeper & Defense
Drake Callender (6/10):
Both goals were ridiculous, so really not much he could have done about those.
Jordi Alba (9/10):
Vintage Jordi Alba. The fullback still has the ability to take games over from that left-back position, which is exactly what he did with his two assists. The goal? Icing on the cake that solidified Alba as the clear Man of the Match.
Serhiy Kryvtsov (6/10):
Came off at halftime. Injury or fresh legs? Unsure, but Miami can’t afford another absence in defense.
Tomas Aviles (5/10):
Bad pass on St. Louis’ second goal. Still making too many mistakes, which you can partially understand with his age. This team needs more, though.
Marcelo Weigandt (5/10):
Just didn’t really add much of anything on either side of the field.
Midfield
Sergio Busquets (7/10):
Nearly had an assist or two while standing out for his midfield work. Just so consistent every game. Even his average games are better than everyone else’s.
Federico Redondo (N/A):
A nightmare. Having just returned from injury, Redondo was forced out 30 minutes in as he now stares down more time on the shelf.
Matias Rojas(6/10):
Had two looks from range, but didn’t really impact the attack otherwise. Was taken out for fresh legs in the 70th minute.
Attack
Robert Taylor (6/10):
Was unlucky not to get an early goal. Was very smooth on the ball throughout, but he couldn’t quite make it happen in the final third.
Luis Suarez (7/10):
A fantastic finish, one that we’ve been seeing for years. The own goal was unfortunate, souring the day for him.
Lionel Messi (8/10):
If not for Roman Burki, could have had a few goals. The one wasn’t enough to earn a win, unfortunately for him, but you can’t say Messi didn’t have his opportunities to add more.
Subs & Manager
Benjamin Cremaschi (7/10):
A tough position to be thrown into, but Cremaschi stepped in and had some good moments in midfield.
Ryan Sailor (6/10):
Did fine defensively after being thrown in at halftime.
Julian Gressel (7/10):
Provided the assist on Alba’s goal, totally changing the game in the match’s final moments.
Leo Campana (6/10):
Was clean on the ball and did get one look at goal in his 20-ish minutes.
Tata Martino (7/10):
Made the right calls with his substitutions, but injuries will make his life even harder going forward.
