Inter Miami were kept goalless for the first time this season in Major League Soccer as they were held to a goalless draw by the Chicago Fire on Sunday.
A club-record attendance of 62,358 filled Soldier Field for the visit of Lionel Lionel Messi and Inter to see the home side deliver a gritty performance. Chicago, coached by former USA boss Gregg Berhalter, limited Lionel Messi and his former Barcelona strike partner Luis Suarez to just a handful of opportunities. The best effort from Lionel Messi, who played the full game, came in the third minute when he unleashed a snap shot from outside the box which was denied by a fine, diving save from Fire keeper Chris Brady.
Chicago Create Chances Amid Electric Atmosphere
There was no feeling of Chicago being overwhelmed by the massive throng at the stadium they share with the Bears of the NFL and they came close twice in the first half with Mauricio Pineda forcing Oscar Ustari into a full stretch save and then Philip Zinckernagel hitting the outside of the post from a tight angle. Suarez missed a fantastic opportunity to score for Miami at the end of the first half when Noah Allen floated a ball in but the Uruguayan sends his shot over the bar.
Second Half Pressure But No Breakthrough For Inter Miami
In the second half, Chicago had plenty of pressure with most of the creativity provided by ex-Lille winger Jonathan Bamba. The Fire nearly claimed all three points in the 88th minute when Bamba fired a shot that Ustari deflected. Maren Haile-Selassie then drove the rebound wide. Shortly after, Ustari denied Bamba once again. In a desperate finale, Miami also created a chance to win, but Tadeo Allende pulled his shot wide from a promising position.
Mascherano of Inter Miami Reflects on Fatigue and Clean Sheet
Inter Miami had seemed jaded following their midweek efforts in their CONCACAF Champions Cup triumph over Los Angeles FC on Wednesday and their coach Javier Mascherano seemed glad that they had not lost a point. “We arrived with a very, very huge load both physically but also mentally. So not losing is always crucial, too,” he explained. “I’ll take the positives, which is that we didn’t give a goal away. We’d been giving goals away for three games, and today we kept a clean sheet. Now, fortunately, we’ve got a week of work coming up, which is a little bit of respite for us, after the beginning of the season we’ve had,” he said.
Elsewhere in MLS: Portland and Columbus Triumph
Ex-Miami boss Phil Neville watched his bettering Portland Timbers share a 4-2 victory at Sporting Kansas City with Venezuelan striker Kevin Kelsy netting two goals. Portland are now five games unbeaten and climb to fourth in the Western Conference.
The Columbus Crew came from behind to share a 2-1 victory at St.Louis City. Brazilian Joao Klauss opened the scoring for the home team before Crew defender Steven Moreira equalized with a side-footed volley. Uruguayan Diego Rossi sealed the victory with a low drive from outside the box in the 55th minute.