MLS

MLS: Inter Miami steal one against Atlanta, New York City FC win 5-4 thriller

By Sports Desk April 24, 2022

Inter Miami kept in touch with the mid-table in the tightly packed Eastern Conference after beating Atlanta United 2-1 on Sunday.

The home side had to come back from an early deficit after Atlanta's Ronaldo Cisneros broke the deadlock in the 13th minute, but a well-directed DeAndre Yedlin cross found Leonardo Campana for the equaliser 15 minutes later.

Campana then turned provider for the second goal, setting up Bryce Duke for the eventual winner in the 64th minute.

The hosts survived their second VAR review as Atlanta pleaded for a penalty in the closing stages, but it was not to be.

It was a gutsy effort from the Miami side, with just 37 per cent possession – including just 28 per cent in the second half – and seven shots, compared to Atlanta's 20.

Miami goalkeeper Nick Marsman kept his side in the contest with six saves, while it was a very different game at the opposite end for Atlanta's Bobby Shuttelworth, who was not credited with a save.

It was an absolute barn-burner when New York City FC hosted Toronto FC, with the home side holding on for a 5-4 win.

Incredibly, Toronto scored the first two goals of the game to lead 2-0 in the 27th minute thanks to a Jesus Jimenez brace, before a Valentin Castellanos reply kept New York in the game, trailing 2-1 at half-time.

In a remarkable start to the second half, New York added three goals in 13 minutes after Keaton Parks' finish made it 4-2 in the 58th.

When Gabriel Pereira made it 5-2 after 75 minutes, it seemed like icing on the cake, but it turned out to be crucial as Toronto snatched back two late goals in the 87th and 91st, ultimately running out of time.

It was much smoother sailing for New York Red Bulls, beating Orlando City 3-0 away from home to move up to second in the Eastern Conference.

Luquinhas delivered the only goal in the first half, before Cristian Casseres doubled the advantage shortly after play resumed, and Lewis Morgan put the finishing touches on with a late penalty.

Meanwhile, an Acosta scored for both teams in Los Angeles FC's 2-1 win against Cincinnati.

Cincinnati's Luciano Acosta broke the deadlock deep into first-half stoppage time, before Los Angeles' Kellyn Acosta equalised in the 59th minute.

Carlos Vela put Danny Musovski in to net the winner for Los Angeles in the 79th minute, holding onto top spot in the Western Conference.

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    Expansion franchise St Louis City's perfect start to their inaugural MLS season was ended by Minnesota United who triumphed 1-0 after Luis Amarilla's 78th-minute penalty on Saturday.

    City had made MLS history by winning their first five games but that was ended by the Loons with Amarilla drilling home the spot kick after a needless challenge by Kyle Hiebert.

    Hiebert brought down Amarilla just inside the box with a rash tackle when Jakob Nerwinski appeared to have Kervin Arriaga's wayward pass under control.

    Substitute Samuel Adeniran came closest to equalising for St Louis, with a 95th-minute shot going over the bar after a great first touch from Klauss' right-wing cut back.

    St Louis remain top of the table with 15 points from six games, but unbeaten Minnesota climb up to fourth in the Western Conference.

    Cincinnati continued their impressive start to the season with a 1-0 home triumph over Inter Miami who slumped to their fourth straight defeat.

    Yerson Mosquera scored the 45th-minute winner for Cincy, who are top of the Eastern Conference.

    Giorgos Giakoumakis scored an early winner as Atlanta United moved up to second in the East with a 1-0 home win over New York Red Bulls, who are down in 12th in that conference.

    Jordan Morris and Leo Chu scored first-half goals as Seattle Sounders stayed second in the West with a 2-1 victory at LA Galaxy, who are without a win and have only three points from five games.

    LAFC remained unbeaten and third in the West despite a 0-0 draw at the winless Colorado Rapids, while SJ Earthquakes climbed to fifth with a 2-1 victory over Houston Dynamo with all three goals coming from penalties.

    Vancouver Whitecaps snapped a run of three straight draws with a resounding 5-0 win over 10-man Montreal with Simon Becher scoring a double. Becher is the fastest player (87 minutes) in MLS history to score his first four goals.

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    Federico Bernardeschi netted another spectacular goal with a strike straight from a corner in Toronto's 2-2 home draw with Charlotte.

    Sporting KC remained winless after a 0-0 draw at Philadelphia Union, New England drew 1-1 with New York City and Real Salt Lake suffered their fourth straight loss, going down 4-0 to Columbus Crew.

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    But Allegri was unimpressed with his side and stormed down the post-side tunnel before the full-time whistle.

    "We didn't play very well and I think in the last five minutes we had to go and score a second goal, keep pushing them and maintain the pressure," Allegri told Sky Sport Italia.

    "It doesn't seem like much five minutes, but all Verona needed was a long ball into the box and anything could happen. We could've been here licking our wounds if they had equalised.

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    Allegri was quick to point out if not for that deduction they would be on 59 points and subsequently second in Serie A. Juve will have their appeal against that penalty heard on April 19.

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    Inter's losing streak in Serie A was extended to their worst in six years as Giacomo Bonaventura's second-half header proved decisive at San Siro.

    The Nerazzurri have now lost three straight top flight matches, with Bonaventura's winner coming shortly after a woeful miss from Lukaku.

    Having rediscovered his goalscoring touch while on international duty with Belgium, Lukaku was unable to transfer that form across to his club side as he failed to hit the target from close range with the goal gaping.

    No Inter player had more shots than his three, with Lukaku not managing to get any of them on target, despite accumulating 1.2 expected goals.

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    "His role is to create the opportunities, make the movements that the team needs.

    "He wasn't the only one who had chances today, so I wouldn't focus only on Romelu."

    Inzaghi also stressed he is ultimately responsible for turning Inter's fortunes around. 

    "There is great disappointment, we lost two consecutive home matches," he said. "We need to work more, starting with me.

    "At the moment, we need to be more determined, because we had so many chances to score and we should have done.

    "I cannot ask for more in terms of effort, as the players did everything I asked of them."

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    Before the match, Inter chief Giuseppe Marotta told DAZN: "[Lukaku's] love for the Inter jersey is 10 out of 10, we'll evaluate the prospects with Chelsea."

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