Inter Miami held New York City FC to a 1-1 draw at DRV PNK Stadium on Saturday night, as goals from Santiago Rodríguez and Tomas Aviles earned each side one point to tighten the postseason race in the Eastern Conference.
Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba watched from the sidelines once again as the Herons struggled against NYCFC.
Tayvon Gray kicked off the first goal of the match, capitalizing on a free kick from the midfield to find Rodríguez on the edge of the box. The New York City FC figure danced through Miami’s backline, specifically beating Tomas Aviles to position himself on the right and rocket the ball to the top of the net.
Despite a mostly dormant second half from the home side, Aviles rectified his defensive errors in the 92nd minute when heading the ball into the net off of a set piece to equalize the game.
Miami almost secured the three points in the final seconds, but David Ruiz’s strike hit the post and bounced just outside of the goal to maintain the 1-1 scoreline.
The result leaves the Herons in 13th place on the Eastern Conference table, hoping certain results combine to pave a favorable path to the playoffs. The team faces Chicago FC next on Wednesday, before concluding the season by playing against FC Cincinnati and Charlotte FC twice.
Inter Miami player ratings (5-3-2)
GK: Drake Callender - 7/10 - Made a couple saves when necessary, not a tremendous amout to do on that goal.
RB: David Ruiz - 6/10 - Simply couldn't adapt to being a right back after normally playing as a CB, struggled constantly.
CB: Tomas Aviles - 7/10 - Beat in every 1v1 situation, weakened the backline entirely. Particularly terrible defending against Rodriguez to allow the goal. But then scored the equalizer.
CB: Serhiy Kryvtsov - 6/10 - Constantly struggled against any NYCFC player. Provides no stability.
CB: Kamal Miller - 7/10 - The only working aspect of the backline.
LB: Noah Allen - 6/10 - Again, understandably a Jordi Alba substitute as the summer signing recovers from injury but does not live up to the job.
CM: Dixon Arroyo - 6/10 - Hindered more than helped. Sabotaged a golden opportunity for Cremaschi but running into him before becoming increasingly frustrated to give away silly fouls. Subbed out to avoid the double yellow.
CM: Sergio Busquets - 6/10 - A sloppy performance throughout. the player lacked leadership and control from the midfield. A frustrated, and worn out version of the Spaniard.
CM: Benjamin Cremaschi - 7/10 - Lacked precision up front. The potential remains, but the improvements made during Leagues Cup seemed to have disappeared.
ST: Leonardo Campana - 7/10 - A couple opportunities on the attack, but nothing concrete enough to inspire. A lacking performance.
ST: Facundo Farias - 7/10 - Lacked creativity until the last 20 minutes of the game, but too late to make a significant impact at that point.
Substitutes
ST: Josef Martinez (70' for Campana) - 6/10 - Neither helped nor hindered.
CM: Jean Mota (70' for Arroyo) - N/A
RW: Robert Taylor ('82 for Kryvtsov) - N/A
Manager
Gerardo 'Tata' Martino - 6/10 - Another struggle. Basically tore apart the starting 11 by the 70th minute, changing the formation without accurately reading the match.
Player of the match - Sebastian Rodriguez (NYCFC)
This article was originally published on 90min as Inter Miami 1-1 NYCFC: Player ratings as Herons earn draw to land in 13th place .