Inter Miami Rallies Late to Draw 2-2 With FC Cincinnati as Messi Goes Scoreless

Riquelme Fillipi scored his first Major League Soccer goal in the 90th minute on Wednesday night, lifting Inter Miami to a 2-2 draw with FC Cincinnati after a frantic finish in Miami. Lionel Messi did not score in the match.

Luis Suárez put the home side ahead 1-0 in the 61st minute. Cincinnati then answered with two goals in the closing stages, forcing the reigning MLS Cup champions to scramble for a result.

Kenji Mboma Dem tied the score for Cincinnati in the 80th minute. Six minutes later, Samuel Gidi netted his first MLS goal on a counterattack, finishing from the top of the box. For a short time, Cincinnati looked set to pull off a surprise road win.

Fillipi changed that by connecting from the left side of the box, almost the same spot from which Suárez had scored earlier in the match.

Cincinnati still had one more opening. In stoppage time, Evander took a shot from around the penalty spot that would have won it, but Inter Miami defender Ian Fray got his body in front of the ball and deflected it away. The corner kick that followed was harmless, and the final whistle came soon after.

The draw left Inter Miami third in the Eastern Conference. New England beat Red Bull New York 3-2 on Wednesday to reach 58 points, two more than Miami with two matches remaining for each club.

That sets up a major meeting on Sunday, when Messi's team travels to Foxborough, Massachusetts, to face the Revolution. The result is likely to go a long way toward deciding who takes the No. 2 seed in the East, and potentially the No. 2 seed in the MLS Cup playoffs. It is the next-to-last regular season game for Miami, which finishes at home against Charlotte on Nov. 7.

For Cincinnati, the draw was a missed opportunity. The club needed a win in Miami and a Columbus loss to Dallas to formally secure a playoff berth, so it remains in pursuit of a postseason spot.

Ahead of the match, MLS announced that Cincinnati will visit Miami on Feb. 19 in the opening game of next year's Sprint Season. The shortened campaign will act as a bridge between the league's current calendar and a more internationally aligned schedule that begins in July 2027.