Atlanta beat Miami to Take it to Game Three

Atlanta 2 – 1 Miami

Inter Miami came unstuck as they were beaten by Atlanta as the home side came from behind to secure a memorable win that will see the two sides battle it out in the decider next weekend.

Whenever these two sides meet, there seems to be fireworks, and this game was no different. Often played at a frenetic pace, it was an exhilarating encounter that had fans from both sides on the edge of their seats throughout.

Both sides went for it from the first whistle. Atlanta knew that nothing less than a win would be enough to keep them in the competition, and they attacked Miami whenever they could as they looked to open the scoring.

However, it was Inter who struck first in an almost comical situation.

Brad Guzan, outstanding in the previous game, seemed to slip as he tried to kick the ball down the pitch. His error saw the ball drop to Frederico Redondo, who teed up David Martinez, and the central defender finished like a center-forward.

It was an unfortunate mistake by Guzan, who had an excellent season, but the life of a goalkeeper can often be fraught with risk, going from outstanding to forgettable in an instant.

It didn’t phase Atlanta, and they continued to play their free-flowing game, but Miami were in the ascendancy and looked to finish the game and the tie with a second goal. Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez combined well a number of times to go close as they continued to pressure Atlanta.

But the home side weren’t finished yet, and with the likes of Alexey Miranchuk and Saba Lobjanidze in the side, there was always hope for the home fans. But it was the left-back Pedro Amador that unlocked the Inter defense with a great cross into the danger area.

it was met by the head of Derrick Williams, who made no mistake from a few yards out, and with another half an hour to play, it was game on.

Inter continued to push and recapture the lead, but they couldn’t break down a resilient Atlanta back-line, even with the mercurial talents of Messi, who continually created chances for others but with no end product.

As the ninety minutes clicked by with the game evenly poised, you felt that there were more goals, and Atlanta provided.

After winning the ball in midfield, it fell for Miranchuk, who slid the ball into the path of Xande Silva. The Portuguese forward ran at goal before unleashing a thunderbolt that gave Drake Callender no chance.

With just seconds left on the clock, there was no way back for Miami, who will have to wait until next Saturday to attempt to finish the job.

It was a great game to watch, but Miami will feel that based on chances created, they could, and probably should have won it.

But as the saying goes, it’s a funny old game, and Miami paid the price for their profligacy in front of goal, and they’ll need to be on top of their game if they want to progress against an Atlanta side that never stop running and causing problems for the opposition.