Gritty defense gives Inter Miami 1-0 win against Charlotte
Down a man, the Herons got a moment of offensive brilliance from Tadeo Allende and Luis Suarez and 60-plus minutes of all-out defensive commitment to remain unbeaten.
Inter Miami forward Tadeo Allende (21) celebrates after scoring the only goal in an 1-0 win Sunday against Charlotte FC at Chase Stadium. Photo by David Santiago/Miami Herald.
Herons win again without Messi
Tadeo Allende’s 46th-minute goal and tenacious team defense was all Inter Miami needed to beat Charlotte FC 1-0 Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, despite playing more than half the match a man down.
Goalkeeper Oscar Ustari tripped Charlotte’s Wilfried Zaha in the 38th minute just beyond the penalty box in front of Miami’s net, earning a red card for directly obstructing a goal-scoring opportunity. Rocco Rios Novo, Inter Miami’s third-string keeper, replaced Ustari and winger Benja Cremaschi left the match with Ustari.
The Herons circled the wagons, scrapping their 4-2-3-1 formation for a more compact 4-4-1 lineup.
The half ended in a scoreless tie, but that changed 16 seconds after play resumed. Defender Gonzalo Lujan bashed a long clearance downfield to Allende, who was streaking down the right side. Allende back-heeled the ball to Suarez and ran left diagonally behind the Charlotte defender closing on the Suarez. The Herons’ striker chipped a pass over the defender back to Allende, who chested the ball down and smashed a right-footed shot into the back of the net.
Allende’s goal let the home side fully commit to defending their goal, and defend they did, a gutsy, disciplined effort led by defensive midfielder Yannick Bright and center back Noah Allen.
Messi misses third straight match
Inter Miami, which improved to 5-0-1 in all competitions and 2-0-1 in MLS play, won its third straight match without Lionel Messi. The Herons captain hasn’t played since Feb. 25 because of muscle fatigue; he was on the bench and available to play but coach Javier Mascherano decided against using him after Ustari was ejected.
Mascherano, a world-class defender as a player, was thrilled with his players’ performance down a man and without Messi.
“There is no better feeling than winning like that,” Mascherano said after the match. “Obviously, when the team plays well and scores a lot of goals, we are all happy. But I greatly value the effort the players made and especially their defensive organization…we defended well.”
The Herons have red cards in each of their first three MLS matches. Aviles was ejected early against New York City FC — a match Inter Miami salvaged with a stoppage-time equalizer for a 2-2 draw — and Ian Fray was carded after a 4-1 win in Houston for allegedly violating the league’s rule against touching an opponent’s face, head or neck. The card against Fray was rescinded upon review.
Inter Miami travels to Kingston, Jamaica, Thursday for the second leg of its Concacaf Champions Cup series with Cavalier FC. The Herons will play an MLS regular-season match Sunday at Atlanta United before having some time off for FIFA’s March window for international competition.