Inter Miami once again left points on the field after finishing in a 2-2 draw against San Diego FC. The result marked Miami’s fourth straight draw in MLS play and continued a frustrating stretch of struggling to close out games.San Diego opened the scoring in the 12th minute when Anders Dreyer gave the visitors an early 1-0 lead. Lionel Messi responded in the 24th minute with a free-kick goal to bring Miami level. The goal was Messi’s 20th of the MLS season.
Miami eventually took the lead in the 74th minute when Rodrigo De Paul played a ball into Luis Suárez, who finished the opportunity to make it 2-1. However, Miami was unable to hold onto the advantage. Dreyer scored his second goal of the night in the 82nd minute, giving San Diego the equalizer and forcing Miami to settle for another point. For a team with Inter Miami’s talent, these are the types of games they need to find a way to win. Too many draws continue to add up, especially against opponents Miami should be capable of putting away.
The challenge becomes even greater heading into the next matchup against Columbus Crew on September 27. Miami will be dealing with several players leaving for international duty, meaning the team will have to rely on its depth while already trying to find a way out of this stretch of draws. At this point in the season, simply playing well in stretches is not enough. Inter Miami has to start turning these close games into three points.
