Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will seek a third consecutive victory, and the first in their new home, when they host the New England Revolution on Saturday night.
After settling for 2-2 draws against Austin FC and the New York Red Bulls in the first two matches played at Nu Stadium, manager Javier Mascherano suddenly resigned and sporting director Guillermo Hoyos took over on an interim basis.
The Herons (5-1-3, 18 points) then hit the road for a 3-2 win at Colorado last Saturday night and 2-0 victory at Salt Lake on Wednesday evening.
Messi scored his team-leading sixth and seventh goals against Colorado. Against Salt Lake, late goals from Rodrigo De Paul and Luis Suarez made the difference.
And overall, the trip provided a team-bonding opportunity following an unexpected change.
“We spent, those two matches, almost a full week together,” Hoyos said in Spanish. “And during that time we really got to know each other on a much deeper level, especially with those we didn’t know before. But it was truly a pleasure because there was a lot of laughter. The players were very happy.”
Meanwhile, a New England side with modest expectations this season has quietly assembled a four-match league winning streak, including an impressive 2-1 victory at Atlanta United on Wednesday night.
William Sands and Peyton Miller scored in the 73rd and 78th minutes, respectively, as the Revolution (5-3-0, 15 points) rallied to a late win. And American World Cup hopeful Matt Turner made eight saves to raise his save percentage to 77.1%.
The Revolution have lost all four of their matches with the Herons since Messi’s arrival to MLS. But while first-year coach Marko Mitrovic respects the challenge the South Floridians present, he believes his side can exploit some of their deficiencies.
“I don’t want to say we can give them resistance,” Mitrovic said. “We’re not there to give resistance to players, to any team. We’re there to play our game, to try be on our best (level).”
–Field Level Media
