Player Ratings From Inter Miami's Derby Day Match vs. Orlando City

+ Ref nonsense

Alex Windley

Mar 03, 2024

photo credit: Inter Miami CF

Inter Miami continued its 2024 season with a Derby Day match-up against cross-state rivals Orlando City.

With the game starting at 4:30 PM, you could probably imagine how humid the weather was.

The temperature also most certainly reflected the heated conditions on the pitch as well.

Tata Martino rolled out Miami in his typical 4-3-3, nothing out of the usual. But, what subsequently happened after kick-off is everything La Familia could’ve dreamed of.

The Herons got the scoring started early in the 4th minute, with Suarez getting his first official goal in MLS. The men in pink continued to put on the pressure, striking the back of the net in the 11th, 29th, 57th and 62nd minutes.

Orlando was, quite frankly, out of ideas while Miami ran rampant.

After a poor showing away at the Galaxy, Tata’s men were able to remedy the mistakes that plagued them in LA.

Here are the player ratings from Inter Miami’s derby day match-up vs. Orlando City.

Goalkeeping, Defense:

🧤 Drake Callender - 8.4: Came up huge for Miami when called upon. Didn’t have much to do, but did well when he was needed.
🏎️ DeAndre Yedlin - 7.5: Held down his right-back spot well, was balanced in both attack and defense.
🦌 Tomas Avilés - 8: Another solid game from the youngster. In each game, he’s showing why he’s the most expensive center-back acquisition in MLS history.
🐻 Nicolás Freire - 8.5: The center back Miami needed to fix their defensive woes. Was calm, collected, and kept everything in front of him. Also kept the clean sheet.

💨 Jordi Alba - 9: I still can’t believe this guy is 34 years old. The runs he makes are key to Miami’s attack. Played a huge part in the night’s 5-0 demolition.

Midfield:

🥨 Julian Gressel -8.5: This is why Miami went out and acquired Julian Gressel. The German-American ended the game with two assists and two chances big chances created.
🧮 Sergio Busquets - 7.5: Happy to see him back to form! Had one bad giveaway in the first half that was iffy, but the Busi we know and love was back.
✌️ Diego Gómez: - 8.5: Like Gressel, one of his best games in an Inter Miami kit. As I said in previous editions of Player Ratings, Gómez will undoubtedly be a key player for this side going forward.

Attack:

🐐 Lionel Messi - 10: Another 10 for Lionel. Scored a brace against Miami’s biggest rivals. I’m sure the fan base is living right now, haha.
🔫 Luis Suárez - 9: Welcome to Major League Soccer, Luis Suárez. He heard the criticisms from the Galaxy match and took it personally. Lucho ended the game with two goals and two assists.
🪽 Robert Taylor - 8: Another solid game from the Finland international. Combined well with Suarez, Gressel, and Messi, and ended the match with a goal.

Substitutes:

💈 David Ruiz - 7.3: Circulated the ball well and had some solid progressive passing.
🛎️ Leonardo Campana - 7: Had good combination play with Messi and Taylor, but couldn’t quite make it stick.
🏋️ Serhiy Kryvtsov - 7: Did a solid job in place of a fatigued Toto Avilés.
🐥 Noah Allen - 6.5: Got a smart yellow that prevented an Orlando counter late in the match.
👖 Jean Mota - 6.5: Displayed a couple of nifty flick-ons that looked good in the final third.

A quick note on… pre-match referee tomfoolery

So, pre-game, MLS had to switch the refereeing assignments around because the head ref was caught wearing an Inter Miami kit.

This league is incredible.

Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment below! Let’s discuss it!