Lionel Messi set up Rodrigo De Paul for a goal and German Berterame ended his scoring drought as Inter Miami beat New York City FC 2-0 on Wednesday to officially clinch a berth in the MLS playoffs.
The win gave coach Cristian "Kily" Gonzalez his first back-to-back victories since taking charge last month and guaranteed second-place Miami at least a wild-card spot with five matches left in the season.
"I leave satisfied. Obviously there are many things to improve, but we are getting a little better every day," Gonzalez said.
Messi — who scored twice on Saturday after returning to the club from an emotional farewell with Argentina's national team last week — was once again a constant threat, involved in both first-half goals.
In the 20th minute, Messi controlled the ball just outside the box and fed De Paul, who lofted a cross-field ball toward Suarez near the touchline. Suarez squared it to set up Berterame for a close-range finish, his first goal since May.
De Paul made it 2-0 for Miami from a fast counterattack in the final second of the first half. Berterame carried the ball past midfield and got a bit of luck when a misplaced pass found Messi on the right. Messi drew three defenders and used the outside of his left foot to pick out De Paul, who struck powerfully toward the upper right corner.
The second half produced no goals, with Messi curling a shot from outside the box over the crossbar. In the 90th minute, Messi played a short corner to De Paul, who unleashed a long-range effort toward the far upper corner. U.S. national team goalkeeper Matt Freese produced a superb diving save, pushing the ball onto the post.
New York City, which has won just one of its last 11 MLS matches, at least had a chance for a consolation goal deep in stoppage time with a penalty. Ian Fray fouled substitute Talles Magno as he turned away from goal and got tangled with the defender. However, Dayne St Clair made a brilliant save, diving low to his right to push the ball around the crossbar.
It was Inter Miami's second straight clean sheet after going 10 matches without one.
"I'm really pleased with the way we dropped back and organized defensively. We weren't exposed on the flanks during counterattacks and we competed very hard, breaking up plays whenever the opponent showed signs of a sudden transition," Gonzalez added.
"Maybe at times our ball circulation was a little slow, but that's how the game went."
Although Nashville leads the Eastern Conference by a gap that looks hard to close this year, the win strengthens Miami's grip on second place and its home-field advantage heading into the playoffs.
