90min
·16 May 2024
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Yahoo sports90min
·16 May 2024
Inter Miami's five-match winning streak came to a halt Wednesday night as the points were shared in a goalless draw against in-state rivals Orlando City with Lionel Messi missing out through injury.
The visiting Herons were looking to continue their winning ways against their in-state rivals to extend their stay atop the Supporters' Shield standings. Orlando City, however, were eager to play spoiler and avenge their crushing 5-0 defeat suffered at the hands of Miami back in March.
Orlando were on top through the opening half-hour of play, getting into good attacking positions after clever combinations from Nico Lodeiro, Facundo Torres, Luis Muriel and Duncan McGuire. Oscar Pareja's side came close to opening the scoring on a couple of occasions in the first half -- most notably Drake Callender's outstretched left glove to deny Martin Ojeda from close range -- but it remained 0-0 at the break.
Miami would respond in the second half with a flurry of shots at Pedro Gallese's goal. Jordi Alba -- who was making his first appearance since April 13 after recovering from a hamstring injury -- served up an inviting cross that was denied at the last second before reaching Leo Campana. But without Messi -- who missed the game with a knee injury -- the Herons were lacking just a little sharpness and ingenuity in attack.
The 0-0 draw saw the Herons remain at the top of the Supporters' Shield with 28 points collected from 14 matches played. On the other hand, Orlando improved to 10th place in the division with 13 points claimed from 12 contests.
The Herons faced off against Orlando City / Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
GK: Drake Callender - 7/10 - Came up clutch in the first half with a huge save to deny Ojeda who was through on goal after a brilliant turn into space.
RB: Marcelo Weigandt - 7/10 - Started off rather slow but picked up in the pace in the second half with clever movement and link-up play down the right-hand side.
CB: Tomas Aviles - 8/10 - Didn't put a foot wrong and timed one of his challenges perfectly to prevent Duncan McGuire from getting his shot off in front of goal.
CB: Nicolas Freire - 6/10 - An average showing from the veteran defender who was outshone by the young Aviles.
LB: Franco Negri - 7/10 - Perhaps Miami's best attacker in the first 45 despite lining up at left-back. He helped set up Taylor for the Herons' first real chance of the game but it was all for not.
CM: Julian Gressel - 6/10 - The former Columbus Crew midfielder was just a bit off the pace and didn't really get the chance to showcase his pin-point accurate delivery from set piece.
CM: Sergio Busquets - 7/10 - Excellent in possession once again in the middle of the park, constantly looking around for a fellow Heron to kickstart an attacking move.
CM: Benjamin Cremaschi - 6/10 - A little careless in possession at times and lacking sharpness as he's still shaking off the rust from returning to action.
RW: Matias Rojas - 6/10 - Hit a couple of well-timed diagonal passes to switch play but nothing impactful.
ST: Luis Suarez - 6/10 - Got into good positions in front of goal but was unable to fire any threatening shots off to test Pedro Gallese.
LW: Robert Taylor - 6/10 - Linked up well with his fellow forwards around the Orlando penalty area. Squandered a huge chance to put his side up in the first half as he waited too long to pull the trigger.
SUB: Jordi Alba (64' for Negri) - 7/10 - Was bright in his first appearance in roughly a month and nearly assisted what would've been the opening goal.
SUB: Leo Campana (64' for Suarez) - 6/10 - Good movement up front but wasn't provided enough service.
SUB: Leo Afonso (80' for Taylor) - N/A
SUB: David Ruiz (80' for Cremaschi) - N/A
SUB: Serhiy Kryvtsov (86' for Aviles) - N/A
Gerardo 'Tata' Martino - 7/10 - This one was always going to be tough for Martino to manage. A midweek match on the road vs a rival who's started to pick up form in recent weeks with Messi unavailable for selection. However, the Herons did extend their unbeaten streak to six games and this could end up being a valuable point when the end of the regular season rolls around.