Atlanta United vs. Inter Miami: Inter Miami loss because Messi absence

Inter Miami was without Lionel Messi and suffered its first loss since his arrival in July in a 5-2 humbling at Atlanta United in front of a crowd of 71,635 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday.

Tristan Muyumba, Brooks Lennon and a Kamal Miller own goal put the home side in front at the end of the first half before Georgios Giakoumakis and Tyler Wolff each scored in the second as Atlanta (12-8-9, 45 points) improved to 9-3-3 at home. The club remains in sixth in the MLS Eastern Conference after the victory.

The 36-year-old’s arrival to the MLS sparked a debate in US soccer about the potential physical impact of playing on an artificial surface and there had been speculation in the build up to the match over whether he would play on a turf field.

However, at Messi’s introductory media conference with Miami he explained that his “youth was spent on artificial turf, my whole life was on that pitch.”

When he moved to Europe to play for Barcelona he would play on grass, but Messi added: “Truth is it’s been a while since I’ve played on artificial turf, but I have no problem adapting myself again.”

While we're running out of words to describe what Messi is doing because it's unlike anything that has ever been seen in MLS play before, the team isn't just Messi. Of course, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets have played large roles but so have Drake Callender, Kamal Miller, Martinez, Serhiy Kryvtsov and Leonardo Campana, who just clinched a new deal with the Herons. With Martinez in the side Campana has had to bide his time for appearances, but when he enters the match, he's effective and has scored seven goals and assisted two more in 20 league appearances.

Muyumba scored the equalizer for Atlanta in the 36th minute, putting a header past Miami keeper Drake Callender. The play was reviewed to determine if the ball crossed the goal line, but the video was inconclusive.

Atlanta took the lead with an own goal. Xande Silva's strike deflected off Inter Miami defender Kamal Miller and past Callender.

Lennon gave Atlanta a 3-1 lead, taking a Caleb Wiley cross and beating Callender with a right-footed strike from the middle of the box for his fourth goal of the season.

Miami has matches at home against Toronto on Wednesday and at Orlando on Sept. 24 before the U.S. Open Cup final against the Houston Dynamo three days later.

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 Sarah H

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