Inter Miami were looking good even before Lionel Messi was introduced for his MLS debut and manager Gerardo Martino has warned his players they must get used to playing without him.
Inter Miami’s players have been warned they’ll need to get used to winning without Lionel Messi.
The David Beckham-owned franchise were bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference before they returned to league action against New York Red Bulls. They secured a 2-0 win to climb up the standings and keep their MLS Playoff hopes alive.
The win at Red Bull Arena came despite Messi and Sergio Busquets being left out of the starting lineup. Neither were introduced until just before the hour mark, at which point Miami were already 1-0 up and in control of the game.
Messi wrapped up the win late on as he finished a well-worked move with a simple tap-in in the 89th minute after his sumptuous through ball to Benjamin Cremaschi. But manager Tata Martino was delighted his side did most of the hard work without their talisman – and warned they’ll need to get used to it.
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Martino said: “In reality, I think we ended up doing it with the help of the subs as well. Robbie Robinson, Yedlin, Messi, Busquets. The importance is that we are going to have to get used to winning in these situations.
“Leo’s going to miss at least three games. He’s going to get called up by his national team and others too, and we know the team needs to continue to win in these times.
“’I think it’s the first time we played without him since the Cruz Azul match (Messi’s debut). The response of the team without him was great for the first hour”.
MIRROR
