Inter Miami have been eliminated from Major League Soccer playoff contention after falling 0-1 to FC Cincinnati at DRV PNK Stadium on Saturday night.
The first half of the match saw end to end action, with the Herons connecting well in the midfield to find the final third before Cincinnati capitalized on the counter attacks. But the South Florida side was particularly unlucky in front of the net, seeing five opportunities hit the post and bounce back into play.
Despite a combined 13 shots and five on goal, the two sides entered halftime with a 0-0 draw.
Lionel Messi made his return to the pitch in the second 45, featuring for Miami for the first time since September 20 when leaving the match against Toronto FC in the first half with a calf injury. The World Cup champion gave Miami a boost on the attack, but Cincinnati proved too strong.
The visitors opened up the scoring in the 78th minute, when beating Sergio Busquets to the ball in the midfield to inspire the opportunity. Yuya Kubo then attempted the first shot on goal, enabling Miami goalkeeper Drake Callendar to make the save but Alvaro Barreal capitalized on the rebound to send the ball into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
Miami needed two goals to maintain the postseason dream alive, but could not find the back of the net. The defeat leaves the Herons in 14th place of the Eastern Conference table with 33 points in 32 games.
Inter Miami player ratings (5-3-2)
GK: Drake Callender - 8/10 - Made some crucial saves to maintain the game alive for as long as it was.
RB: DeAndre Yedlin - 6/10 - Unreliable at the back. Lacked the necessary pace and power when defending, allowing Cincinnati to infiltrate too easily.
CB: Tomas Aviles - 7.5/10 - Better on the attack than defense. Unlucky to hit the post on a golden opportunity, but creativity came through when pushing forward.
CB: Serhiy Kryvtsov - 6/10 - Completely frozen on the goal. Made no attempt to save the first shot .
CB: Kamal Miller - 6/10 - Also disappeared during the goal. Despite standing in front of the player, made no attempt to defend. No urgency.
LB: Noah Allen - 6.5/10 - Adjusted better to the position after struggling in previous matches, but still delivering rather than standing out.
CM: David Ruiz - 6/10 - Didn't make a great impact on the midfield, but distributed the ball well enough.
CM: Sergio Busquets - 5/10 - Lost the ball in the midfield that led to the goal. Looked tired and defeated by the second half.
CM: Benjamin Cremaschi - 7/10 - Constantly creative. A couple shots went wide and one hit the post, but overall tried to light a fire in the attack.
ST: Josef Martinez - 7/10 - Unfortunate to see two shots hit the post, but didn't generate too much otherwise. Sloppy mistakes inside the box.
ST: Facundo Farias - 7/10 - Good when pushing forward. A definite improvement from last match, but the performance was not enough to save Miami.
Substitutes
CM: Jean Mota (55' for Ruiz) - 7/10 - Delivered.
CAM: Lionel Messi (55' for Aviles) - 7/10 - Obvious that he's returning from injury, not at his peak but the spacial awareness and creativity when on the ball shines through.
RB: Robert Taylor (76' for Yedlin) - N/A
ST: Nicolás Marcelo Stefanelli (76' for Martinez) - N/A
Manager
Gerardo 'Tata' Martino - 7/10 - Made the necessary moves in the second half to shift into a more attack-minded team but couldn't seal the win.
Player of the match - Alvaro Barreal (FC Cincinnati)
This article was originally published on 90min as Inter Miami 0-1 FC Cincinnati: Player ratings as Herons are eliminated from MLS playoff contention .