Good, Bad & Ugly: Inter Miami drops valuable points to Atlanta at home | OneFootball

Atlanta newcomer Embolo ties match with 87th-minute penalty

The margin for error is shrinking; Inter Miami must take advantage of every opportunity to close the gap between itself and league-leading Nashville SC. That pressure makes this weekend's 2-2 draw with Atlanta so much more disappointing.

Inter Miami had a chance to overtake Nashville for the Supporters' Shield and Eastern Conference leads when the teams played Aug. 15 in Nashville, but the Coyotes embarrassed the Herons 4-1. In the intervening weeks, slumping Miami has fallen from two to 10 points behind the leaders.

But Nashville stumbled Friday at New York City FC, dropping two points in a scoreless draw. Inter Miami knew it could gain ground with a home win Saturday against 14th-place Atlanta; it didn't seem like that hard an ask.

Alas, nothing is simple for the shorthanded, seemingly rudderless Pink & Black. Casemiro, playing center back for the second week in a row, scored the Herons' first goal, a brilliant header on a corner kick from Lionel Messi, but also failed to clear a cross right in front of Miami keeper Dayne St. Clair, instead redirecting it toward the Herons' goal. St. Clair -- who earlier had blocked a Miguel Almirón penalty kick -- deflected the ball into the path of Almirón, who easily scored the equalizer.

Luis Suárez scored just before halftime with an assist from Telasco Segovia. Messi's quick, accurate pass from the Herons' half of the field created the opportunity in transition. The home team led 2-1 at halftime.

The score remained unchanged until 18-year-old center back Fricio Caicedo fouled Swiss World Cup hero Breel Embolo in the penalty box, leading to Embolo's 87th-minute goal, his first MLS score in his first match for Atlanta.

GOOD -- Casemiro. The former Real Madrid, Manchester City and Brazil star had two glaring errors, the wild redirect that led to Almirón's goal and a high-boot penalty earlier that led to St. Clair's blocking Almirón's shot. Those mistakes aside, "the Tank" played like his nickname in the backline. He had 12 defensive contributions -- 8 clearances, 3 interceptions and a block -- and continued to be dangerous on set pieces, scoring an impressive header for the second week in a row. He won three of four ground duels and all three of his aerial duels. He completed 92 percent (65 of 71) of his passes, including 3 of 7 long balls (43 percent).

FotMob rated Casemiro's performance 7.4 on a 10-point scale; St. Clair, who seems to have reclaimed the starting job in goal, earned a team-high 7.8.

BAD -- Home cooking. Is Nu Stadium cursed? Maybe, maybe not, but it hasn't been the fortress Inter Miami CF Stadium (aka DRV PNK Stadium, aka Chase Stadium) in Fort Lauderdale was for Las Garzas. The Atlanta draw left Inter Miami with a league record of 4 wins, 2 losses and 5 draws in its new home. That's not a poor record, but a team with the Herons' ambitions should be much stronger at its own ground. Inter Miami has lost more home matches than it's won only once, when it went 7-8-2 in 2021, its second season. The Herons won 11 of 17 home matches in each of the past two MLS seasons, going a combined 22-5-7 at Chase Stadium.

UGLY -- Silvetti injury. Why has it been so difficult for Inter Miami to stay healthy? Left winger Mateo Silvetti, 20, was a breakout star in last year's playoff run and was expected to be a major contributor this season. Instead, he's played fewer than 1,000 minutes and contributed 3 goals and 3 assists. The Argentine suffered a dislocated left shoulder in Miami's first Leagues Cup match against Atlético San Luis in August and missed six matches before being sent on for Suárez in the 86th minute Saturday; he left 10 minutes later, six minutes into stoppage time, holding his injured shoulder.

COMING UP -- Inter Miami (12-4-7, 43 points) remains second in Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference behind Nashville (53 points) but dropped to third in the Supporters' Shield race behind the Coyotes and the Vancouver Whitecaps (13-5-4, 43 points), which hold the tiebreaker because they have more wins than the Herons.

On Wednesday, Inter Miami visits Chicago to play the Fire (11-6-5, 38 points). Coach Gregg Berhalter has remade his team after the World Cup break, notably adding Polish striker Robert Lewandowski and, in the past week, Inter Miami homegrown defender Noah Allen, who made his Chicago debut Saturday in the Fire's 4-4 draw against Toronto FC. Miami hosts Nashville on Saturday in what could be its last real opportunity to reel in the league leaders, but the Herons shouldn't overlook the Fire, who are third in the Eastern Conference and fifth in the Supporters' shield race, just five points behind Las Garzas.