Inter Miami winning streak, Messi scoring streak snapped emphatically by Cincinnati

Andre Fernandez, Miami Herald on Jul 16, 2025

Published in Soccer

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Lionel Messi was on a historic scoring streak, which had helped Inter Miami become the hottest team in Major League Soccer.

They were made to look anything but that on Wednesday night against a fellow MLS Cup contender in FC Cincinnati.

Messi, who had become the first MLS player to score multiple goals in five consecutive league games, was held scoreless.

And Inter Miami, which had begun an impressive climb up the MLS standings with five consecutive league wins and six consecutive league games without a loss, saw that streak ended emphatically after an ugly 3-0 loss at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati.

A capacity crowd of 25,513, most of which wore the colors of the home side, took part in a “Blue Out,” although some pink Inter Miami jerseys were spotted sporadically in the stands.

Cincinnati’s supporters left the happiest after watching their side dominate and pick up a key three points to push itself to 45 points for the season.

Miami (11-4-5, 38 points) remained in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, but missed out on a chance to close the gap, and is now seven points behind Cincinnati. The teams will face each other again on July 26 at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Inter Miami, which will next play at the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, played its eighth match in the past 33 days and the Barcelona Four of Messi, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets all played the entire match on Wednesday.

Miami fell behind after 16 minutes when Gerardo Valenzuela struck first, and Brazilian star Evander followed with a pair of second-half goals to break the game open.

Miami trailed in a match for the first time since resuming league play following its Round of 16 loss in the FIFA Club World Cup against Paris St.-Germain on June 29.

Things got worse for Inter Miami in the first half when goalkeeper Oscar Ustari exited the game in the 25th minute due to injury. Rocco Rios Novo replaced Ustari in goal.

Ustari, who had dealt with a shoulder issue earlier this month, appeared to pull up and was slightly limping after clearing a ball with his left foot. Ustari sat for a few moments on the field and was treated by team trainers before exiting the match.

Miami controlled possession 54.2% to 46.8%. But Cincinnati outshot Miami 7-2 on shots on target.

On Cincinnati’s first goal, Luca Orellano drove the ball into Inter Miami’s zone and split through two defenders. He then fired the ball ahead to Valenzuela, who turned and fired a left-footed shot past Ustari.

Cincinnati’s second goal came in the 50th minute when Benja Cremaschi and Busquets each failed to clear a cross from Cincinnati midfielder Pavel Bucha to Evander, who controlled the ball and fired it past Rios Novo in the 50th minute.

Evander added a third goal in the 70th minute when Rios Novo stopped a shot by Orellano, but Evander tapped home a rebound.

Cincinnati (14-6-3) bounced back after suffering a 4-2 loss at home this past Saturday against the Columbus Crew.

Inter Miami lost an MLS match for the first time since May 18, when it suffered a similarly lopsided 3-0 loss against Orlando City.

Messi failed to score for the first time in seven league matches and couldn’t come up with his first career goal against Cincinnati

Two of his best chances came just before halftime. First, Messi collected a crossing header from Busquets in front of the goal. But his attempt was deflected away by Cincinnati defender Lukas Engel.

Messi had an even better chance again on a shot from close range in the final minute of first-half stoppage time, but it was smothered by goalkeeper Roman Celentano.

Miami’s starting lineup had one change on the back end where Tomas Aviles started in place of David Martinez.

Yannick Bright (hamstring) and Gonzalo Lujan (hamstring) each returned to action off the bench. David Ruiz (hamstring) was available, but did not play.

Noah Allen (hamstring), Allen Obando (hamstring), Ian Fray (adductor), Federico Redondo (illness), Baltasar Rodriguez (hamstring) and Drake Callender (hernia) were out.