June 02, (THEWILL) – Inter Miami avoided back-to-back home defeats, thanks to a late VAR intervention in their 3-3 draw with St. Louis early on Sunday morning. The Eastern Conference leaders trailed 3-2 heading into the final minutes after a Luis Suarez own goal.
However, Julian Gressel’s long ball found Jordi Alba who tucked away the finish, only for it to initially be ruled out for offside. VAR official, Daniel Radford’s intervention saw the goal stand, ensuring Miami secured a share of the spoils.
There was still time for Miami to nearly snatch a dramatic victory, but Marcelo Weigandt’s late strike was parried away by Roman Burki in the St. Louis goal. The result was harsh on the visitors who led on three occasions through Chris Durkin and Indiana Vassilev goals, before being pegged back by Lionel Messi and Suarez efforts. Messi’s magic created Miami’s first equaliser before Suarez’s fortuitous second.
St. Louis took an early lead through Durkin’s ferocious strike into the top corner. Messi wrongfooted the defence to tee up Alba for a simple finish and make it 1-1. Vassilev restored the visitors’ advantage before halftime with a fine counter-attacking goal. Suarez’s scrappy close-range effort ensured the teams went into the break level at 2-2.
The drama continued after the restart as Durkin’s flick from a setpiece cannoned off Suarez and into the Miami net to put St. Louis 3-2 up. That looked to be enough for victory until the late VAR controversy rescued a point for the hosts, who remain top of the Eastern Conference with 35 points from 18 games. Cincinnati trail Miami by two points with two games in hand.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
