Messi Didn’t Score or Assist. Inter Miami Still Escaped With a Late Draw Against Cincinnati.

Inter Miami needed a 90th-minute equaliser from a substitute to leave Nu Stadium with a point against FC Cincinnati. The final score was 2-2.

Luis Suárez opened the scoring in the 61st minute. Cincinnati responded with two quick goals — Kenji Mboma Dem in the 80th and Samuel Gidi in the 86th — before Riquelme Fillipi, who had only been on the pitch for a few minutes, finished from close range to rescue the draw.

Lionel Messi played nearly the full match. He did not score and he did not assist. He was also shown a yellow card in the 44th minute. For a player who has carried Inter Miami’s attack for most of the season, it was a quiet night by his standards.

The late swing

Miami controlled large stretches of the game after Suárez’s goal, but the final 10 minutes exposed the same issue that has appeared in other recent matches: once the opponent finds a way through, the response is not always immediate or clean.

Fillipi’s equaliser was well taken, but it came after Cincinnati had already turned the game around. The point kept Miami in third place in the Eastern Conference, two points behind New England after the Revolution’s 3-2 win over the New York Red Bulls the same night. Nashville remain well clear at the top.

What the night said about Messi and Miami

Messi finishing a match without a goal or assist is not new, but it is still relatively rare this season. He remains the league leader in goal contributions. On this particular night, however, Miami’s two goals came from Suárez and a late substitute. The attack did not run through him in the decisive moments.

That does not mean he was invisible. Opponents continue to mark him tightly, and Cincinnati’s midfield and defence made it difficult for him to find space in dangerous areas. The broader question for Miami is how dependent the team remains on those moments when he does create or finish them. Against Cincinnati, the late equaliser arrived without him.

The playoff picture

The draw was more useful for Cincinnati than for Miami. Cincinnati stayed in the race for a playoff place. Miami already have one, but the result cost them ground on New England in the race for second place in the East. With two regular-season games remaining, the difference between second and third still matters for home-field advantage in the first round.

Miami face New England on Sunday. That match will likely decide which of the two teams finishes higher. Cincinnati, meanwhile, still need results of their own and help from elsewhere.

A point that felt like less

Inter Miami left with a point they nearly lost. Messi left without a goal or an assist. Fillipi’s first MLS goal was the moment that prevented a defeat. In a season where Miami have looked capable of both dominant and uneven performances, Wednesday’s game sat somewhere in between.

The result keeps them in a strong position heading into the final two matchdays. It does not, however, change the fact that on a night when they needed more control in the closing stages, the decisive contribution came from someone other than their captain.