Lionel Messi goes scoreless, Inter Miami needs late goal to tie Cincinnati 2-2

MIAMI (AP) — Riquelme Fillipi tallied his first Major League Soccer goal in the 90th minute to cap a late-game barrage of scores, and Lionel Messi and Inter Miami escaped with a 2-2 tie against FC Cincinnati on Wednesday night.

Luis Suárez scored in the 61st minute to give Inter Miami a 1-0 lead, and then the reigning MLS Cup champions needed some late-game heroics to salvage a point. They still fell to third in the Eastern Conference, after New England beat Red Bull New York 3-2 on Wednesday.

That gave New England 58 points, two ahead of Miami with two matches left — including one between those clubs in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Sunday.

Evander had a brilliant chance to win it for Cincinnati with a shot from around the penalty spot on what became the last real chance of the match in stoppage time — but Inter Miami defender Ian Fray got his body in front of the ball to deflect it away.

Cincinnati’s ensuing corner kick was harmless and time expired.

Kenji Mboma Dem scored in the 80th minute and Samuel Gidi got his first MLS goal six minutes later for Cincinnati, which is still aiming to clinch a playoff spot. Gidi scored on a counterattack from the top of the box, and Cincinnati — briefly — looked like it was going to pull off a stunner.

Fillipi saved the day for Inter Miami, connecting from the left side of the box. It was nearly the same spot that Suárez scored from earlier.

And now, Sunday becomes massive for Inter Miami. Messi’s team will travel to play the Revolution, with the outcome certain to go a long way not only to determining which team gets the No. 2 seed in the East — but potentially the No. 2 seed in the MLS Cup playoffs.

That will be the next-to-last regular season game for Miami, which closes Nov. 7 at home against Charlotte.

Before the game, MLS announced that next year’s Sprint Season will have Cincinnati visiting Miami on Feb. 19 — the first game of the shortened season that will serve as the bridge between the league’s current calendar and the more international-aligned one that will begin in July 2027.

Cincinnati missed a chance to move closer to clinching a playoff spot. It needed a win at Miami on Wednesday and a Columbus loss against Dallas to formally lock up a berth.

___

See AP’s full soccer coverage here