Uruguayan Luis Suarez led his team American Inter Miami To win over host DC United 3-1 in the American League competitions in the absence of his Argentine colleague and friend Lionel Messi due to injury.
Suarez has continued his brilliance with Inter Miami since his arrival last December from Brazilian club Gremio, scoring his sixth goal in 7 matches in various competitions.
Suarez ended the winning streak in Messi’s absence, as Miami failed to win in its last seven matches in which Messi was absent, in a series that began last September, even though Argentine coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino preferred to keep Suarez and Jordi Alba on the bench.
DC United opened the scoring through Jared Stroud with a missile shot in the 14th minute.
While Inter Miami’s Ecuadorian hat-trick was scored by Leonardo in the 24th minute, and Luis Suarez scored two goals in the 62nd minute, 85 minutes into the match.
The referee of the match sent off DC United’s Portuguese player, Pedro Santos, after a strong objection to substitute Shanider Borglin from Haiti in the 90th minute.
For his part, Martino praised Suarez’s performance, saying, “We talked about his presence for half an hour and he determined the features of the match. One of the coach’s tasks with these players is to convince them when to stop, and when to allow themselves to rest and not risk injury.”
The Argentine coach explained that Messi suffered an injury to the back foot muscle and is being treated, refusing to reveal his possible participation in the upcoming friendly matches for Argentina.
The Inter Miami coach concluded, “It is clear that the goal is to be able to play in the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. We will not take any risks,” as Inter Miami will face its Mexican counterpart, Monterrey, in the regional competition on the third of next April.