Méndez Ruins the Party: Columbus Stun Miami With Late Equalizer

Eighty-four minutes gone, Inter Miami leading 2-1, six straight wins in the bag and a seventh about to be gift-wrapped. Then Brais Méndez stepped over a free-kick on the right edge of the box and curled it off the post and into the net on his MLS debut. Just like that, the party was over. For the second-placed Herons — sitting on 38 points with a +13 goal difference after Matchweek 18 — this felt like a gut-punch. Columbus Crew, 11th in the standings on just 20 points with a W5 D5 L8 record, had no business earning anything at Nu Stadium on Saturday night. Credit where it's due, though: they dug in, soaked up pressure, and nicked a point their season desperately needed.

The first half was vintage Miami chaos. Luis Suárez — who has been carrying this attack while the squad navigates an injury crisis — opened the scoring in the 16th minute, his seventh goal across his last four regular-season games making him one of the most reliable finishers in the league right now. Suárez's season tally speaks for itself in the MLS standings conversation. Then came the odd moment of the night: Casemiro, the free-agent signing from Manchester United making his early mark in MLS football, put through his own net in the 34th minute to level it. Awkward. A midfielder of his pedigree will want to forget that one quickly. But Noah Allen restored the lead deep into first-half stoppage time — a goal that felt decisive at the time. Miami went into the break 2-1 up, the Matchweek 18 job seemingly done.

Then Lionel Messi came on at the 53rd minute. The MLS top scorer — 13 goals and 7 assists in just 15 appearances this season — had been rested, returning from Argentina's run to the World Cup final, and Inter Miami manager Guillermo Hoyos was clearly nursing him carefully. Truth is, Messi on the pitch should have been the final nail in Columbus's coffin, and he came close multiple times in the closing stages. But with Rodrigo De Paul also on rest duty and a crippling injury list that includes Tadeo Allende (knee), Maximiliano Falcón (calf), Gonzalo Luján (calf), and Germán Berterame still sidelined after his harrowing head collision against CF Montréal, depth was always going to be stretched. The SAM rating for D. St. Clair in goal (7.7/10) tells a story of a keeper who did his job without being truly tested until Méndez's moment of brilliance.

For Columbus, and interim head coach Laurent Courtois, this is a genuine lifeline. The Crew arrived in Miami having won two of their last three matches, including a 2-1 derby victory over FC Cincinnati, and they showed more fight than their 11th-place standing suggests. The less said about their defensive shape in the first 45 minutes, the better — they were opened up far too easily. But they showed character. Max Arfsten (7.0 SAM rating across 17 MLS appearances, 4 goals, 4 assists, 25 key passes) and Taha Habroune (7.1/10, 27 key passes in 17 games) gave them something to work with in midfield, and sub Daniel Gazdag, who entered in the 61st minute, added creative spark. The big blow for Columbus ahead of this fixture was the confirmed season-ending ACL injury to striker Wessam Abou Ali — a $7.5 million signing from Al Ahly who had scored 5 goals in just 7 games before going down. Without him, Jamal Thiaré has had to carry the burden, and it was Méndez — a new arrival with fresh legs and nothing to lose — who ultimately delivered the killer moment. Diego Rossi, meanwhile, has already departed for Monterrey in a transfer that further thinned their attacking options.

From a fantasy football and SAM rating perspective, the standout performers were limited but meaningful. Suárez was the best player on the pitch for large stretches — clinical, mobile, making runs that opened space for everyone around him. Casemiro's SAM data will be fascinating to watch develop; arriving as a free agent from Manchester United, he's exactly the kind of deep-lying presence Miami needed after losing Busquets — but Saturday was a mixed debut, and the own goal will sting. Columbus's Patrick Schulte (6.8/10 across 18 MLS appearances) was busy throughout and made some sharp stops before picking up a yellow card in the 90th minute — time-wasting, of all things, which tells you everything about how the endgame felt for the Crew. For Inter Miami, this draw keeps them second, seven points clear of the playoff bubble, but with Nashville above them and a Leagues Cup campaign looming, dropping points at home to a struggling side will hurt. The Herons' predictions merchants had them nailed on for three points. Football had other ideas.

Clubs in this story

Manchester United Argentina Inter