The New England Revolution were able to hold off Inter Miami's attack in the first half, but the second half was a different story.
Miami was toothless in the first half. The Herons were content with passing the ball around rather than actually getting into the final third.
Even Lionel Messi was just floating through the game. He was impressive on the ball, but there was no real chance creation.
Then Messi happened.
The energy shifted in the second half. Miami was starting to get chances and challenging the Revolution backline. After New England secured the lead thanks to a beautiful run from Peyton Miller and a blast from Daniel Gazdag in front of goal, a beast awoke from its slumber.
A looping ball was played towards Matt Turner in the 69th minute. Ethan Kohler was tracking Messi, who was running towards goal, but the No. 10 won the header and flicked the ball to Germán Berterame, who drew Miami level.
“I mean, maybe we could have made a couple more fouls. But overall, I think that we defended [Inter Miami CF] very well," Peyton Miller said when asked about the second-half performance by The Blazing Musket. "And, I mean, it was a good header back by [Lionel] Messi to get that goal. I mean, you can't really do much about that.”
Messi is 5'7" while Kohler is 6'0". The defender has to win the header or at least make Messi worse for wear for going airborne.
But wait, there's more.
Just as it seemed like New England might have eeked out a point, the Argentine had one more rabbit to pull out of his hat. He floated through the final third, checking space and meandering around. Once he got on the ball, he made Brooklyn Raines and Matt Polster look silly. Then Kohler once again got bested as he collided with a Miami player and Messi blew by him.
The captain calmly slotted a shot past Turner and the game was essentially over.
“I still have to watch the game again to be accurate with what I'm saying," Revolution head coach Marko Mitrovic said when asked about the second half by The Blazing Musket. "But there were a couple of situations. I would say in the first half, we had very good patience on the ball, and creating and finding that extra pass and being very patient, because [Inter Miami CF] are a patient team on the ball, and we want to be a patient team on the ball. I felt that we were really mature in picking the right timing of when we're going to speed up the attack and then go to finish. Maybe in a couple of situations we could have had a better set up behind the ball.
"Then in the second half when it was 1-0, there were two particular situations where I felt like we rushed to play and play in the spaces where it's not our spaces, and it kind of built momentum for them. It was a little bit more difficult in those moments for us to kind of get back in the control of the game with the ball. This is something that for me is a big takeaway when you play these games, all those details matter so much. One or two wrong passes can change the dynamic of the game completely.”
Part of the lack of patience could be due to an increase in tempo from Miami. Alhassan Yusuf noted that reacting to the change is something New England will need to improve on.
"I think Miami raised the tempo a little bit better than the first half. I think it's something that we have to look at going into these kind of games, especially in the playoffs. To know when to raise the level of the game. But I think we created chances in the game. We played well, so that's the most important thing moving forward."
The Revolution did not play a bad game. New England won the possession battle, moved the ball more, and limited Miami's attack. Messi only had one shot in the first half.
But playing against Messi requires essentially perfection. Just 45 minutes of great soccer will not do. Even 89 minutes of greatness is not enough when the Argentine is on the field.
Playoff soccer requires a similar level of focus. Especially after the first round, one mistake can end a season.
Considering the time of the season, New England has the capability to turn the performance into a jumping-off point. The Revs now know what it takes to win games against one of the best teams in Major League Soccer and the best player in the world.
If they turn this loss into a lesson, it could be what propels them to an MLS Cup run.
