Paulinho scored in the 80th minute, Mauricio leveled in the 87th minute and Palmeiras rallied to a 2-2 draw against Inter Miami on Monday night in Miami Gardens, Fla., and clinched the top spot in Group A.
The Brazilians’ late rally canceled out a brilliant individual performance from Luis Suarez, who scored a goal that echoed the peak of his long career and contributed a clever assist for Miami.
Tadeo Allende also scored for the Herons, who still advanced to the round of 16 at the FIFA Club World Cup after a second-place finish.
Palmeiras (1-0-2, 5 points) finished above Miami (1-0-2, 5 points) on goal difference and will face Botafogo on Saturday in Philadelphia. Lionel Messi and Miami will play Messi’s former club, Paris Saint-Germain, on Saturday in Atlanta.
Paulinho cut Palmeiras’ deficit in half after he ran onto Allan’s clever diagonal ball into the area, then finished into the bottom left corner just ahead of Benjamin Cremaschi’s challenge.
Seven minutes later, Mauricio hammered in an emphatic finish low with his first touch after he was first to Marcelo Weigandt’s headed partial clearance.
Now 38 years old, Suarez looked at least 10 years younger when he doubled Miami’s lead in the 65th minute.
After receiving a pass from the left, he used his body to ward off Lucas Evangelista’s challenge, then drove at and cut back across the body of defender Bruno Fuchs.
Although Fuchs poked the ball with an outstretched heel, Suarez kept possession, sorted his feed, then powered a ferocious half volley that sailed past Weverton into the near top corner.
Allende put Miami in front in the 16th minute on one of the most direct goals of the tournament.
Federico Redondo cleared the ball from his own penalty area, and Suarez made a retreating run from the center circle to meet the clearance.
With one touch, Suarez put the ball onto the path of Allende racing forward across the midfield stripe into open space. And with Palmeiras defender Murilo appearing to suffer a hamstring strain while on the chase, Allende had plenty of time on the break to compose himself before driving a crisp, low finish past Weverton.
–Field Level Media
