Inter Miami 2, Cincinnati 2: Fillipi's 90th-Minute First MLS Goal Rescues a Point After Cincinnati Scored Twice in Six Minutes
Lionel Messi went scoreless, and Inter Miami still escaped. Luis Suarez opened the scoring at 61 minutes, Kenji Mboma Dem and Samuel Gidi flipped the match for Cincinnati in the 80th and 86th, and Riquelme Fillipi's first MLS goal at 90 minutes made it 2-2 in Miami — a draw that drops Miami to third in the East.
The match of the night in MLS ended level and breathless. Inter Miami and FC Cincinnati drew 2-2 at Nu Stadium in Miami on Wednesday night, with three of the four goals arriving in the final fifteen minutes and the last of them a rescue act in the 90th.
After a scoreless first half, Luis Suarez put Miami ahead in the 61st minute — his 16th goal of the season, finished from a Casemiro cross after Rodrigo De Paul's long ball into the box. Cincinnati answered late and twice: Kenji Mboma Dem leveled in the 80th with a rising shot into the upper left past Dayne St. Clair, and Samuel Gidi, scoring his first MLS goal on a counterattack, put Cincinnati ahead in the 86th.
Fillipi saved the point. The substitute connected from the left side of the box in the 90th minute for his first Major League Soccer goal, past Roman Celentano, and Cincinnati still had one more chance — Evander's shot from around the penalty spot in stoppage time, deflected away by Ian Fray's body before a harmless corner closed the match, according to the Associated Press report.
The point costs Miami ground. The draw drops Inter Miami (15-6-11, 56 points) to third in the Eastern Conference, two points behind New England after the Revolution's 3-2 win over Red Bull New York — and Miami travels to Foxborough to play New England on Sunday, with the No. 2 seed in the balance. Cincinnati (11-11-10, 43 points) came within minutes of clinching a playoff berth and must now try again on Saturday against Philadelphia.
