Inter Miami attack fizzles against Fire
The Herons failed to score for just the second time in 13 matches, but Miami blanked Chicago to preserve its unbeaten MLS record.
The Chicago Fire attracted a club-record crowd — 62,358 — to Soldier Field on Sunday to watch the home team play a Major League Soccer regular-season match against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF. Photo: MLS
Record crowd sees scoreless draw
More than 62,000 fans — a Chicago Fire club-record 62,358 — packed Soldier Field on Sunday to watch the host Fire play Inter Miami and, of course, Lionel Messi.
They were treated to an uneven, uneventful and uninspired 90-plus minutes of football that ended in a 0-0 tie.
Messi started and played the entire match after missing the Herons’ previous two trips to Chicago after his move to Inter Miami in 2023. Other than a well-struck free kick blasted off the crossbar, the World Cup champion failed to provide the magical moment for which he’s known.
Miami coach Javier Marscherano accepted the result in stride, citing the Herons’ busy MLS regular season and Concacaf Champions Cup tournament schedules. The Herons rallied to edge Los Angeles FC in an emotionally and physically exhausting must-win Cup quarterfinal match just four days before playing at Soldier Field.
Mascherano said the LAFC match, which earned the Herons a semifinal berth against the red-hot Vancouver Whitecaps, was “a tough match against a rival which has had a very good start to the season.”
“Some days we do better, some days we are not as good. But at the end, the team leaves its heart and soul on the field.”
— Javier Mascherano, IMCF coach
“Let’s not forget that other teams are playing one game a week and our team has been playing every three or four days for the past two months,” Mascherano told reporters after the match. “That is a heavy load physically and mentally, and our team keeps competing. Some days we do better, some days we are not as good. But at the end, the team leaves its heart and soul on the field. I leave with the feeling that the team tried everything until the end to win. Now, fortunately, we have a long week of training ahead, which gives us a bit of breathing room after the intense start to the season.”
Man of the Match: Oscar Ustari
Goalkeeper Oscar Ustari made seven saves to help Inter Miami keep a clean sheet Sunday in a 0-0 tie at Chicago Fire. Photo: Inter Miami CF
Goalkeeper Oscar Ustari, 38, who earned the starting role while former No. 1 Drake Callender recovered from an adductor injury, made seven saves to seal the Herons’ point Sunday. He saved a 26th-minute blast by Mauricio Pineda and two Jo Bamba shots in the final minutes, as well as positioning himself well throughout the match and also distributing the ball accurately and providing a calming presence for the defense.
Standings
The Herons (4-0-3, 15 points) stayed unbeaten in MLS regular-season play despite disappointing ties in its last two league matches. Inter Miami dropped to fourth in the Eastern Conference standings. Columbus (5-0-3, 18 points) — the only club other than Miami without an MLS loss — is in first, with Charlotte (5-2-1, 16 points, +6 goal differential) and Cincinnati (5-2-1, 16 points, +1 gd) in second and third.
Chicago (3-2-3, 12 points) is eighth.
The Whitecaps (6-1-1, 19 points) lead MLS and the Western Conference.
Next up
Inter Miami plays its next league match Saturday in Columbus, then resumes Concacaf Champions Cup play in the first leg of a home-and-home semifinal tie Thursday, April 24, in Vancouver.