Inter Miami want to turn the page while host New York City FC want to keep things rolling as the two Eastern Conference contenders meet Sunday afternoon in the Bronx, N.Y.
Inter Miami (2-1-1, 7 points) would love to move past the bitterness stemming from last Wednesday’s elimination from the CONCACAF Champions Cup round of 16 following a pair of draws against Nashville.
The 1-1 stalemate on Wednesday night in South Florida put Nashville through to the quarterfinals by virtue of the away goals tiebreaker.
NYCFC (3-0-1, 10 points) enter the game feeling the opposite as they look to extend a three-match winning streak and remain unbeaten so far. NYCFC are coming off a 3-1 victory at Colorado and will face Inter Miami for the first time since losing 5-1 to Lionel Messi and his teammates in the conference championship match last November.
Nicolas Fernandez has been the catalyst for NYCFC’s hot start, recording a brace in the win over Colorado and scoring a total of four goals this season, which is tied for the most in the conference.
“All I can say is that we don’t have to worry about [Fernandez],” NYCFC coach Pascal Jansen said. “Nico is a fantastic player, an intelligent player who brings a lot of energy to the team and plays with a lot of passion and heart. A very clever player.”
Since blanking Orlando City in the second half of a 4-2 win on March 1, Inter Miami have been solid on the defensive side, allowing only two goals over their past 4 1/2 matches across all competitions.
But they would like to get superstar Messi into one of his typical scoring grooves and kickstart a mostly dormant offense. Messi scored his 900th career goal on Wednesday against Nashville, but it was the lone score for the club in its past three matches.
“All the disappointment from being knocked out has to fuel us – give us the energy to go out there, play the game the way we’re supposed to,” Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said on Saturday.
–Field Level Media
