JuicyTalk
Robert Lewandowski stole the limelight from Lionel Messi with a brilliant goal and a verbal spat with Rodrigo De Paul as the Chicago Fire secured a 1-1 draw with Inter Miami.
A crowd of over 63,000 at Soldier Field was treated to a tetchy encounter lit up initially by Lewandowski’s brilliant volley that put the home side ahead after nine minutes. The Pole found space at the far post and acrobatically fired into the left-hand corner although credit must also go to Andrew Gutman for a superb cross from the left.
Miami responded well and Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady made three good saves, the best of which saw him get down low to deny German Berterame in the 16th minute.
Brady started the second half the same way, keeping out a Messi effort while former Miami defender Noah Allen also distinguished himself with a goal-saving tackle. But the hosts could not repel the subsequent corner from Messi with Casemiro heading home.
De Paul mocks Lewandowski but ends up looking the fool
The two teams traded chances before they then traded insults.
The spark was a push by Lewandowski on Fire defender Ian Fray. Fray responded with a push of his own, prompting other players to get involved, including De Paul who shouted in Lewandowski’s face: “Who are you, dummy? I’ve won two Copas América and a World Cup. You?”
The actions of De Paul, who was a key part of Argentina’s lamentable behaviour during the World Cup, actually diffused the situation with players from both sides finding his intervention comical.
The draw saw Miami cut their deficit to Eastern Conference leaders Nashville, who lost to Toronto FC earlier in the day, to nine points. Chicago are a further five points back after their fourth successive draw.
“We still have work to do, and you can see it,” Chicago Fire director of football and head coach Gregg Berhalter said. “We need to get better because we weren’t in a position to dictate the game for long enough. We’re hanging out, and we don’t want to be in that position. They have a good team. I don’t want to take anything away from their team, but we can do a better job.”
Hoyos feels Miami deserved the win
Miami coach Guillermo Hoyos, who continues to stand in for Kily Gonzalez while he awaits his work visa, hinted his side deserved more from the game.
“I don’t think there was any issue [with the attack] at all. For me, their goalkeeper was the standout player of the match,” he said.
“The goalkeeper is part of the game, after all. We created chances from various areas, but the goalkeeper played his part well. The guys performed very well, excellently, I’d say; we just missed out on the result we deserved.”
Miami play Nashville at the weekend while the Fire take on the New England Revolution.
