Columbus Crew allows late goal, settles for 2-2 draw at Inter Miami
The stands at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale won’t have vacancies for long. The pending acquisition of global superstar Lionel Messi will ensure that whenever the deal is finalized and the Argentine arrives in Florida.
Tuesday night, though, Messi wasn’t there for Inter Miami CF, a team mired at the bottom of the Eastern Conference's standings in Major League Soccer, as the Crew, owners of the league’s most dangerous offensive attack, were on the field and leading 2-1 as five minutes of stoppage time was being announced.
That's when Miami’s Josef Martinez leveled things in the 90th minute with a magnificent, right-footed side bicycle kick from near the penalty circle. It moved him into ninth place in MLS history with 104 career goals and simultaneously doomed the Crew to a 2-2 draw on a night of missed chances for the visitors.
"Yes, we conceded two goals, but this is about we had many chances to score," coach Wilfried Nancy said. "Usually we are pretty good on that. When we have a chance to be in front in terms of a result, we have to keep it."
The Crew spent much of the first 20 minutes probing the left side of Miami’s defense, but midfielder Ben Cremaschi was equal to the Crew’s Max Arfsten. But when Cremaschi’s sliding tackle in the 23rd minute dispossessed the forward, who was making his second career start, it set up the second corner of the evening for the visitors and sent Lucas Zelarayan to the flag. His in-swinging service was punched away from the goal by Drake Callender, but not out of harm’s way.
With seemingly every player sucked in toward the mouth of the goal, Crew midfielder Darlington Nagbe was left alone just outside of the area around the middle of the field. There, Nagbe waited, tracked the ball as it fell back to earth and unleashed a right-footed blast that buried itself in the left side of the net for his second goal of the year.
What should have been a bigger halftime lead for the Crew was instead just a 1-0 advantage, and Miami would make them pay early in the second half. Leonardo Campana, who had both goals in Miami’s 2-1 win against the Crew on April 29, cut through Columbus' defense in the 57th minute off a corner kick from Robert Taylor. The forward was unmarked and powerfully headed Taylor’s service past Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte to tie the game. It was Campana’s fourth goal of the season.
The Crew reclaimed the lead a short time later when Cucho Hernandez worked the ball into the right corner and sent a pass to the far post and waiting teammate Christian Ramirez. Charging toward the goal, Ramirez’s sliding, right-footed effort beat Callender to make it 2-1 in the 69th minute.
The goal was Ramirez’s eighth of the season, tying him with Zelarayan for the team lead. It was also Ramirez's fifth goal in the past six games, which is part of the reason the Crew remain unbeaten in seven straight, going 5-0-2 in that stretch. Miami earned a tie for a second consecutive game but is winless since a 2-1 win against New England on May 13.
"The corner and the second goal, yeah, we can do better on that one, but it’s more about scoring on the ones we have," Nancy said. "They had chances, but not a lot of chances."
Said Ramirez, "It is a bit of a disappointment because our standards are so high for each other and this team. It’s funny to sit here and say we got a draw in a tough place to play against a team with nothing to lose and we’re still disappointed. It shows great growth in what we’re trying to do and the standards that we have for each other."
Ramirez said some of the team's issues were exacerbated by the conditions. The game-time temperature was announced as 86 degrees.
"A few times it was the final ball," Ramirez said. "Sometimes in this scenario where we’re not fully used to the conditions, how hot it was tonight, how humid, sometimes those decisions are based off of being more fatigued than normal. I think if we managed to get that second goal late in that first half … it completely changes the tide of the game."
Nancy made two lineup changes from Saturday night’s 2-1 win against the New York Red Bulls. In addition to Arfsten entering the starting lineup, Milos Degenek made his first start since April 29 in place of center back Steven Moreira.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Inter Miami's late goal sends Columbus Crew to 2-2 road draw
