Lionel Messi, Inter Miami remain undefeated as role players step up in narrow win over Columbus Crew

During the first ever MLS game in Cleveland, Ohio, fans may have come to see Lionel Messi’s wizardry against the Columbus Crew, but a homegrown and a draft pick helped push the Herons to a 1-0 victory over their Eastern Conference rivals. A diving header from 20-year-old Benjamin Cremaschi was enough to push Miami back atop the Eastern Conference alongside the Crew.

It’s the first loss for Wilfried Nancy’s team on the season as Inter Miami are now the only undefeated side remaining in Major League Soccer. With the match taking place at Huntington Bank Field, home of the Cleveland Browns, NFL stars like Jerry Jeudy were in attendance, but that, along with a record-breaking crowd of 60,614, wasn’t enough to will the Crew to a victory. With these teams becoming the class of MLS and with the Crew knocking Inter Miami out of the Leagues Cup last season, this match had high stakes despite it only being the ninth week of a young regular season.

Even without Cucho Hernandez after his move to Real Betis, the Crew have been able to grind out wins behind the form of Diego Rossi and new high-powered attacker Daniel Gazdag made his full debut, but the Crew missed plenty of chances during the match. The ones that they didn’t, Inter Miami keeper Oscar Ustari was there to save. The 38-year-old Argentine’s glove seemed like they were covered in glue as he didn’t spill anything coming his way to take pressure off the defense. 

Any relief was needed since Javier Mascherano’s men had to suffer to secure this victory. Set up in a 4-4-2, Miami weren’t particularly dynamic in attack, but that’s where Yannick Bright and Cremaschi come in. Linking up with Marcelo Weigandt on the right-hand side of the pitch, Cremaschi was able to score, giving Miami a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.

Defensively, Bright was everywhere in midfield with his running, allowing Sergio Busquets to sit deep and pick his spots to step up. With the Crew pushing during the entire second half, his play was needed. Drafted in the first round of the 2024 MLS SuperDraft, when Miami began bringing in players like Federico Redondo, it wouldn’t have been surprising for Bright to end up having a smaller role in the team, but instead, he has stepped up and shown that no matter who the manager is, he’s important to this Miami side.

MLS has been a league where there are numerous paths to success, and this Miami lineup, with a left back turned center back, numerous Argentine players, homegrowns, draft picks, and of course the Barcelona quartet, shows that. It’d be impossible for Miami to only win by buying stars, which is where roster building and finding value to afford those stars have been important.

The performance wasn’t perfect by any means as the Crew had plenty of chances to win the match, producing an xG of 3.01 to Miami’s 0.61, but the best teams in the league win when they aren’t at their best. The Crew will be back under Nancy, especially once Gazdag gets integrated, so they can hold their heads high, but Miami have shown time and time again that a team needs to be perfect to defeat them.

Any lapses in concentration will be punished, and that’s just what happened to the Crew. Luis Suarez has been more of a creator this season with Messi and Tadeo Allende carrying the attack, but when needed, the remainder of Mami’s roster has stepped up. If that continues to happen, there’s no reason that the Herons won’t be earning more silverware come season’s end as they look to make up for crashing out of the MLS Cup playoffs during the first round to Atlanta United last season.