Miami took the lead with a Luis Suarez strike on the hour mark, but conceded two in quick succession before grabbing back a late equalizer from substitute Riquelme Fillipi to ensure the spoils were shared. Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami stumbled to a 2-2 draw with Cincinnati on Wednesday in an MLS game that sprang to life after half-time with four superb goals. The draw was a setback in Miami’s pursuit of the Eastern Conference’s second seed, as the star-studded side lost ground on the New England Revolution, who beat the New York Red Bulls 3-2.
In a low-key first half, Miami controlled possession and comprehensively out-passed Cincinnati, but were unable to pierce through. He picked up the ball wide right, ran at multiple defenders with a flurry of stepovers, then cut inside to score.
That changed in the 61st minute, as Rodrigo De Paul picked up the ball in the middle of the park, in acres of space, and played it wide to Casemiro. But Cincinnati rallied, and in the 80th minute Frenchman Kenji Mboma Dem scored with another beautiful curling effort to the far post. With Messi heavily man-marked and unable to get a shot away, De Paul sprayed a wide pass to young Brazilian attacker Fillipi, who cut back to the corner of the box and bent it through two defenders and into the far side of the goal.
