Miami wins again with Messi off at Copa América
Ian Fray scored in his first league match in 11 months and Inter Miami continued to excel without their star players in a 2-1 victory over the visiting Columbus Crew on Wednesday.
Fray found the back of the net in the 10th minute and Leo Campana added a goal in the 21st to stake Miami (12-3-5, 41 points) to the lead before Cucho Hernandez scored in the 40th minute for the Crew, who had a four-match winning streak come to an end.
Columbus (7-3-6, 27 points) also failed to secure a fifth straight road victory.
Miami, the Supporters’ Shield leader, won its second straight match without forwards Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez and midfielder Matias Rojas, who are all away on international duty for Copa América. Messi and Suarez had combined to score 24 of Miami’s 44 goals entering Wednesday.
The Herons got a huge save by Drake Callender on a close-range shot by Hernandez in the 79th minute to preserve the lead.
Fray put Inter Miami up 1-0 with an unmarked header off a corner kick by Julian Gressel. It was a special moment for Fray, who returned after injuring his ACL in a 2023 Leagues Cup match.
After forcing a turnover, Gressel, who used to play for the Crew, sent a cross from the end line to Campana, who scored on his own rebound after a Patrick Schulte save. It was Campana’s fifth goal of the season.
Hernandez made it 2-1 after he cut down the middle to stick the underside of his right foot on a service by Aidan Morris.
Columbus midfielder and captain Darlington Nagbe became the 10th player in MLS history to make 400 regular-season appearances. Dax McCarty (477) and Kei Kamara (429) are the only active players with more games played.
Callender made three saves for Miami, while Schulte finished with five for the Crew.
