Suarez scores twice in first six minutes, Inter Miami beats Cincinnati, clinches playoffs

Luis Suarez was among six starters missing from the Inter Miami roster when the team was humiliated 6-1 by FC Cincinnati on the road in early July, the most lopsided loss of the season. Anyone who has watched Suarez throughout his career knows how driven he is and how a loss like that would motivate him the next time the teams played.

The 37-year-old Uruguayan forward punished Cincinnati with two goals in the first six minutes of the rematch at home Saturday night, delighting the spirited Chase Stadium crowd of 20,106, which included NFL legend Tom Brady.

Miami hung on to win 2-0 and clinch a spot in the MLS Playoffs with eight games to spare, despite going down a man in the 42nd minute.

Miami leads the Supporters Shield race with the league’s best record and 56 points. With Saturday’s win, Inter Miami opened an eight-point lead over second place Cincinnati in the Eastern Conference standings and is four points ahead of Western Conference leader Los Angeles Galaxy and nine points ahead of LAFC, which has two games in hand.

Suarez scored 31 seconds into the game, the quickest goal in club history, bettering the record set in 2022 by Leo Campana, who scored in 33 seconds against Orlando City. Inter Miami looked sharp from the opening whistle, strung together a slick sequence of passes and Marcelo Weigandt crossed the ball to Suarez, who right-footed it to the bottom left corner of the goal.

It was Suarez’s 17th goal across all competitions this season, which topped Gonzalo Higuian (16) for best in club history. And, he wasn’t done for the night.

Suarez lived up to his “Pistolero” (Gunslinger) nickname and scored for the 18th time this season with another goal in the sixth minute. He made a nice run, despite his aging knees, and delivered another trademark finish after receiving a through ball from Matias Rojas.

Suarez celebrated by lifting his jersey and revealing a t-shirt that read: “Fuerza Juan”, a tribute to Uruguayan Nacional defender Juan Izquierdo, who collapsed during a Copa Libertadores match against Sao Paolo in Brazil on Thursday. He was unconscious when he was taken away from the field in an ambulance. Izuierdo remains in stable condition in ICU at a Sao Paolo hospital. Uruguay suspended all games this weekend due to Izquierdo’s delicate health.

“He’s come into the team, scored a lot of goals, been a playmaker, so for him to add goals to his tally is massive for us,” Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender said of Suarez. “It just shows his class, his intelligence and how smart he is as a player. For him to be competing at this level at his age shows how much of a professional he is. That’s what he’s done his whole career.”

Coach Tata Martino added: “What Luis gives us, in addition to his goals, which is most important, is his competitive spirit, his effort and dedication to the team, which he displayed once again.”

Miami held on to the 2-0 lead the rest of the first half, but went down a man in the 42nd minute when defender Tomas Aviles was ejected after getting slapped with a second yellow card for a hard foul. The game had gotten a bit testy by that point. Former Inter Miami captain DeAndre Yedlin got a yellow card for dissent after Aviles’ foul and Suarez was shown a yellow in first-half added time after fouling Yedlin as the defender fell out of bounds into the ad boards.

Forced to play the second half with 10 men and desperate to preserve the lead, Martino took a more defensive stance and replaced Rojas with Ian Fray. Miami held its ground and survived, thanks in large part to a handful of huge saves by Callender and relentless defending from the back line.

“The most important thing in that situation, playing a man down, is to stay organized, and we did that,” Martino said. “We were able to manage the game well in the second half. Though we gave up some field position, Cincinnati didn’t have too many scoring chances.”

Team captain Lionel Messi was out for the 19th game this year as he recuperates from a right ankle injury. He returned to individual training on the field early in the week after spending five weeks just doing gym work. Martino had no estimate for Messi’s return date but said he is progressing well, and it should not be long. He watched the game from a field-level suite.

Miami’s starting lineup Saturday included: Callender, Sergio Busquets, Aviles, Rojas, Suarez, David Martinez, Jordi Alba, Diego Gomez, Yannick Bright, Fede Redondo and Weigandt.

Julian Gressel missed the game for personal reasons.

The return of center back Martinez to the lineup after serving a one-game red-card suspension meant Busquets could move back to his natural defensive midfield position, where he played alongside Bright, an Italian rookie from University of New Hampshire who has been one of the surprises of the season.

Miami’s bench Saturday included CJ Dos Santos, Fray, Sergiy Kryvtsov, Noah Allen, Franco Negri, Benja Cremaschi, David Ruiz, Leo Campana and Robert Taylor.

Inter Miami players said they are highly motivated to win the club’s first MLS Cup after being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup and the Round of 16 of the Leagues Cup.

“We wanted to win all three; obviously, we didn’t get the chance to win the other two, so now we’re pulling it all out for the MLS Cup,” Taylor said.

Callender said: “We want to go for the big one, which is the MLS Cup. It was a non-negotiable to get there, now we clinched playoffs, and we have to put ourselves in position physically, mentally and emotionally to be prepared for playoffs.”

Inter Miami hits the road next weekend to play the Chicago Fire and then has two weeks off during the FIFA break.