Nani scored the winning goal in the second period stoppages. The Portuguese winger had already prepared the equalizing goal for Orlando about thirty minutes earlier. His center at the far post had found Chris Mueller, and the latter’s slide had redirected the ball into the back of the net.
Juan Agudelo had scored the first goal of the game after the return of half-time, after the first real collective action of Inter Miami.
The match, played behind closed doors like all the others in the revival tournament, was overshadowed by the injury of Miami defender Andrés Reyes, hit in the throat in a duel with striker Dom Dwyer. Reyes left the field on a stretcher and appeared to be having difficulty breathing.
Orlando won its first game of the season and took the lead in Group A. Group stage games will count towards the MLS standings, the season of which was interrupted on March 12 due to the COVID pandemic. -19. All the teams had only had time to play two games.
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The Orlando and Miami players knelt while the other team’s black players and coaches raised a fist around them.
Wednesday’s game was preceded by a demonstration in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. For 8 min 46 s, that is to say as long as the ex-policeman Derek Chauvin held George Floyd on the ground with his knee on his neck, the players from Orlando and Miami put a knee on the ground , and they were surrounded by black players and coaches from other teams. All posted slogans of support for the cause.
In an interview with the ESPN network, general manager of the Coalition of Black MLS Players, Justin Morrow of Toronto FC, called all of the MLS stakeholders, and not just black people, he said, to campaign for a change in systemic racism.
MLS is working closely with us to ensure that we have a say in all racial equality projects here in Orlando, said Morrow. Other initiatives will take place. They say the right things. Our communication with the Commissioner is direct. The general managers speak to us. They pave the way for change.
Now, we have to make a long-term commitment so that all of this is not just a drop in the ocean.
The Nashville SC excluded?
The situation of the Nashville team, affected by five confirmed cases of COVID-19, continues to evolve. The Athletic reported on Wednesday that four other inconclusive cases were positive.
MLS kicked out FC Dallas from the tournament on Monday due to 11 positive cases in its delegation, and a similar fate could await Nashville, whose first scheduled game Wednesday against Chicago has been postponed without specifying a new date.
We work closely with our doctors. We will meet with them after the match [mercredi] evening, and if we find that Nashville cannot play in this tournament, we will make a decision in the next few hourssaid league commissioner Don Garber to ESPN.
