photo credit: Inter Miami CF
Inter Miami go five points clear in the Supporterās Shield race with a 2-1 win over the Chicago Fire.
The match comes just days after Miamiās emphatic home victory vs. Toronto FC.
With Lionel Messi out for the next few weeks, the Herons had to rack up as many points as possible before heading into the Leagues Cup break. Tata Martinoās men continue to do that with flawless efficiency, despite their talisman being sidelined by injury.
Miamiās latest win over Chicago gives the men in pink some breathing room in the Eastern Conference standings and the aforementioned Shield race.
The game itself couldnāt have gone better for the Herons. Though the finishing shouldāve been better, Miami was able to create multiple chances on goal that kept the Fire on their toes.
Here are Player Ratings from Miamiās win vs. Chicago.
Goalkeeping, Defense:
š§¤ Drake Callender - 9: Had multiple saves that saved Miami three points. He isnāt called āSuper Drakeā for no reason.
šØ Jordi Alba - 9.2: Got the game-winning goal and was integral to Miamiās forward progression.
š§® Sergio Busquets - 8.3: One of his better games at center-back. Wiped away the awful taste of that FC Cincinnati loss.
š¦ Tomas AvilĆ©s - 8.5: Another great game from the youngster. Slowly getting better in his decision-making as well.
š» Marcelo Weigandt - 7.5: Was active on Miamiās right-hand side and combined well Julian Gressel.
Midfield:
š Federico Redondo - 8.6: Miamiās metronome in midfield. Enjoying the budding partnership heās building with Yannick Bright.
āļø Yannick Bright - 8.9: One of the better players on the field. His positional awareness and ragged tenacity in the middle of the pitch gave Miami the extra bite they needed to nullify Chicagoās midfielders.
š Matias Rojas - 8: Got the game-opening goal, probably shouldāve had two. Appreciate his flair.
Attack:
š„Ø Julian Gressel - 8.2: Hustled well. Had a howler in the first half, but his delivers wonāt go unnoticed.
š«Ā Luis SuĆ”rez - 7.9: Pretty good night for āLucho.ā Served up a handful of mouth-watering chances for his teammates, but unfortunately, none of them went in.
šŖ½ Robert Taylor - 8.7: Great game from RT. Set up the opening goal flawlessly.
Substitutes:
šĀ David Ruiz - 7: Great cameo from the Honduran. Got into tackles and drew fouls to take the pressure out of the game. I see Busquets has taught him well.
š¦ Leo Afonso - 6.4: Dying to see him start one of these days. Think his pace on Miamiās front line will do wonders.
š„ Noah Allen - 6: Had a couple of mistakes that couldāve been costly, but did well besides that.
š³ Ian Fray - 6.6: Did well to prevent the Fire from getting an equalizer.
Coaching:
š¢ Tata Martino - 7.5: Going to be slightly critical here. Do think his substitutes couldāve come on earlier. Though he ultimately got it correct, Miami shouldāve been reactive to what Chicago manager Frank Klopas was doing. Besides that, the switch to the back three was good. It gave Miami a line of five to defend with, as well as options heading forward.
Diego Gomez is heading to the Premier League:
Thoughts on the match? How do you feel about Diego heading to Brighton? Let me know in the comments!
Overall, great! I think Lucho is a little rusty because they didnāt play him much during Copa but heāll get there soon. Drake is a king š and that tribute to Messi was beautiful. This is all the love he didnāt get at PSG and he looked so moved by it.
Agree about Tata he is slow with the hook and late tactics not conservative was having Rapids game ptsd. Looked liked a wide open game early then i think the humidity kicked in short rest ect. Defense still a worry Bright only midfielder who defends well really going to miss Gomez in that regard hope deal is as reported