In Major League Soccer on Sunday, Inter Miami battled to a 1-1 draw at Orlando City despite missing Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba.
Miami now has five games left in its regular season, which puts it five points off of the final playoff berth.
Miami will attempt to add the U.S. Open Cup to the League Cup it won last month on Wednesday, and with that aim in mind, head coach Gerardo Martino took no chances with his starting lineup.
Along with Messi and Alba, who were both ruled out due to fitness, Martino decided to rest Busquets, a Spanish midfielder who has been a constant since joining the team in July.
Miami fielded a line-up similar to the one that had seen the team plummet to the bottom of the Eastern Conference prior to Messi’s arrival, with homegrown players Noah Allen and David Ruiz added to the side.
Duncan McGuire found himself with space on the edge of the box in the 29th minute, but Drake Callender made a strong save to prevent Orlando, second in the East and already guaranteed a playoff spot, from taking the lead.
At the opposite end, Orlando goalkeeper Pedro Gallese saved a header from Miami’s in-form Ecuadorian striker Leonard Campana after a corner.
In the 52nd minute, Miami made a breakthrough when Campana feed Josef Martinez. Martinez’s low drive was parried out, but David Ruiz slid in to snag the loose ball.
Martin Ojeda’s curling left-footed attempt was stopped by Callender once more, and Orlando then missed another opportunity when Ivan Angulo was in a clear shot on goal but mishit his attempt.
But in the 66th minute, a deflected pass dropped into the hands of McGuire, who fired a first-time shot through Callender’s knees to give the home team their just desserts.
Miami struggled mightily in the latter stages as it clung to a point.
“They are a very competitive team, just like us, and we just try to fight through and get the win,” added Ruiz.
Despite the unfortunate outcome, he continued, “it’s just another point that gives us hope to advance to playoffs.”
“Obviously, we didn’t have players with key roles like Busi, Jordi, and Messi, but we’ve been working hard every day to get a spot on the team and I mean you can see that in the game,” he continued.
Miami will play New York City FC after Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup final against the Houston Dynamo, one of its main playoff rivals.
With a 3-0 victory over Toronto FC on Sunday, NYCFC surpassed D.C. United into ninth position. The match had been postponed from Saturday due to a burst water main at Red Bull Arena.
Argentine forward Julian Fernandez’s excellent solo goal gave the team the victory.
