Miami bounce back with hard fought win

Inter Miami 3 – 1 LA Galaxy

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL–Inter Miami got back to winning ways with a morale boosting win against a stubborn LA Galaxy team in front of their home fans in Fort Lauderdale.

Lionel Messi was back to fitness but only made the subs bench, along with recent signing Rodrigo DePaul.

The two entered the fray later on and their presence was telling on more than one occasion, most notably the goal that broke the deadlock late in the game.

However, the Herons were made to work for their points here, and LA Galaxy didn’t make it easy for the home side to make amends for last week’s poor performance.

It was a great game of football to watch as both sides looked confident going forward and clearly had the belief that they could win the contest.

Joseph Paintsil was a constant threat and the Miami defence struggled to cope with his electric pace.

Lois Suarez has had a quiet season in terms of goals, but his involvement in Miami’s build-up play can often be the difference, and he was in full flight here.

A Miami attack found the veteran striker running away from goal, but his clever back heel found Telasco Segovia who poked the ball home for what appeared to be the opening goal, but it was disallowed for an earlier offside.

But the home supporters didn’t have to wait long to have something the cheer.

Sergio Busquets collected the ball near the halfway line and spotted the run of Jordi Alba before executing the perfect pass to find him. Having made the perfect run the Miami full back finished with some aplomb to beat the onrushing Novak Micovic.

Despite Miami having the lead and enjoying plenty of possession, they couldn’t extend their lead, and it came back to haunt them later after some questionable defending.

Paintsil ran at Marcelo Weigandt and the full back was left in his trail as the attacker went on to then fox Gonzalo Lujan before slipping the ball passed Oscar Ustari to shock the fans and bring the scores level.

It was a poor goal to concede, particularly as it meant giving up the lead, but Miami have Messi to get them out of trouble, and he did just that here.

The Miami captain beat two players on the edge of the area before curling the ball around the outstretched hand of Micovic and into the net to take the lead again.

It was tough on LA who had got their tails up after their goal and could easily have gone on to win the game at 1-1.

Minutes later it was over, and Suarez got the goal his play deserved. The experienced striker was on the end of a fine Miami move and Messi flick that created the chance for a wonderful goal. It was the strikers first goal in twelve games and was worth waiting for.

This was a tough win against a tough opponent, and despite his cool demeanour, Miami head coach Javier Mascherano will be thrilled with the result and the response from his players after last week’s display.

Miami looked back to doing what they do best, controlling large portions of the game and dominating possession to smother the opposition and create openings of their own.

Next up, the Herons turn their focus to the Leagues Cup when they take on Club Tigres at Chase Stadium on Wednesday (8pm ET, Apple TV).

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