What we learned about Lionel Messi, Inter Miami in their MLS opener
After 90 minutes of intentional, possession-based play, Inter Miami clinched a 2-0 victory Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., over Real Salt Lake in the Major Soccer League season opener.
It's a big result for Inter Miami, especially after the team's underwhelming preseason tour, and it tells us a lot about how head coach Tata Martino's team intends to challenge for the MLS Cup.
Here are the biggest takeaways from Miami's win.
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez are great, but Miami's attack depends on Robert Taylor. Finnish striker Taylor missed most of Miami's preseason for tactical reasons — Martino benched him in favor of a two-man attack composed of Messi and Suarez. That duo, though potent in the opening minutes, tended to fade along with Suarez's legs as the game went on.
Martino recognized this and made a conscious shift against Real Salt Lake. He put Suarez at the top of an attacking triangle, with Messi and Taylor flanking him on either side, and the results were impressive from kickoff. It was Taylor who fed most of Miami's best crosses into the box, and it was Taylor who scored the opening goal. Martino was wrong to doubt him.
Messi is leading an MLS set-piece revolution. Compared to other top leagues around the world, MLS doesn't trade much in set pieces. Most goals come from open play rather than dead-ball situations, but Messi is changing that. His potency with corners and free kicks is one of Miami's strongest assets, and he demonstrated that repeatedly against Real Salt Lake.
Messi nearly scored an "olimpico" — a goal curved in from a corner kick — in the first half, only to be denied by quick thinking from Salt Lake's veteran goalkeeper Zac MacMath. Messi followed that with a spectacular free kick that had to be cleared off the goal line. Salt Lake defended Messi's set pieces brilliantly, but lesser teams will struggle to contain him.
Miami fades dramatically when it gets tired. The problem with fielding a team full of aging legends is they simply can't run for 90 minutes straight. Miami dominated the first half, leading on important metrics such as ball possession, pass accuracy and shots on target, but its efficiency fell off a cliff as its legends tired in the second half.
Salt Lake dominated the match from the 50th minute to the end and probably should've equalized. It was their profligacy, not Miami's defense, that kept the game at 1-0.
Salt Lake wound up getting frustrated, committing too many players to the attack and getting caught out by Miami midfielder Diego Gomez, but sharper MLS teams won't fall into that trap. The path to beating Miami this season is clear: Hold on, keep it scoreless until halftime, then strike when Miami's aging midfield begins to tire.
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