Riquelme Fillipi Rescues Inter Miami in a Wild 2-2 Draw With FC Cincinnati

For 80 minutes on Wednesday night, this looked like a routine Luis Suárez special. Then FC Cincinnati scored twice in six minutes, Nu Stadium went quiet, and Inter Miami needed a substitute who had been on the field for seven minutes to bail them out.

Riquelme Fillipi did exactly that. His 90th-minute finish, his first goal for the club, earned Inter Miami CF a 2-2 draw with FC Cincinnati in a game that went from sleepy to chaotic in the blink of an eye. Kenji Mboma Dem and Samuel Gidi had flipped Suárez's opener on its head, and Evander nearly won it for Cincinnati with the last real chance of the night. Neither side got the three points, and both had good reason to feel they should have.

Forty-Five Minutes of Nothing, Then Everything

The first half was a stalemate. Cincinnati sat compact, Lionel Messi had two long-range efforts blocked, and Evander tried his luck from distance three times without forcing a save. The only real drama was Messi's yellow card in the 44th minute.

Miami manager Kily González did not like what he saw. "In my view, we were far too passive in the first half, which is something we tried to address at halftime," he said afterward.

He sent on Telasco Segovia and Ian Fray at the break, and Miami came out with more purpose. Suárez fired over from inside the six-yard box in the 50th, then missed again in the 55th. Messi went just wide from the middle of the box in the 58th, and Roman Celentano saved a Rodrigo De Paul strike in the 60th, conceding a corner.

From the corner that followed, Miami finally scored. Casemiro found Suárez on the left side of the box, and the veteran striker took a touch and hit a right-footed shot into the bottom right corner. It was his 16th goal of the regular season, per the club, and Casemiro's first assist since arriving this summer.

Cincinnati's Six-Minute Lightning Strike

For a while it looked like that would be enough. Then, in the 80th minute, moments after Dayne St. Clair saved from Bryan Ramírez, Evander teed up Mboma Dem on the right side of the box. Mboma Dem lashed a left-footed shot into the top left corner. The AP called it a stunner, and it was.

Six minutes later Cincinnati were ahead. Tom Barlow, a halftime sub, set up center back Samuel Gidi on the break, and Gidi drove a left-footed shot from the top of the box into the bottom left corner. It was his first goal for the club, and for about four minutes it looked like the winner.

Then Fillipi happened. On as an 83rd-minute substitute, he collected De Paul's pass on the left, shifted inside to lose his marker and beat Celentano low to the bottom right corner with his right foot. The AP noted it came from nearly the same spot as Suárez's goal.

There was still time for more. Celentano saved from Suárez in the first minute of stoppage time, and with the last real chance of the night, Evander found space near the penalty spot only for Fray to get his body in front of the shot. Cincinnati's corner came to nothing, and the whistle blew.

Who Delivered

Riquelme Fillipi played seven minutes plus stoppage time and scored the goal that saved Miami's night. Not a bad way to open the account.

Luis Suárez took four shots, put two on target and scored. He also picked up a late yellow card.

Rodrigo De Paul assisted Fillipi, which the club says was his 16th assist of the regular season and makes him Miami's leader in that category.

Kenji Mboma Dem and Samuel Gidi produced the goals that nearly stole it. Mboma Dem summed up the mood: "I felt like we could have had three points, but every point is vital in this playoff race."

Evander was busy all night without quite landing the knockout. Six shots, none on target, and an assist.

Lionel Messi had five shots and none on target, plus a yellow card. Quiet nights are allowed, even for him.

Turning Point: Four Minutes of Cincinnati Joy

Gidi's goal should have been the story. Cincinnati were at the end of a long run of games, playing in the humidity, and had just come from behind against the reigning MLS Cup champions. Then they let De Paul and Fillipi combine down the left, and the lead was gone in four minutes.

Pat Noonan did not hide from it. "Like I said, when you're up a goal that late, you want to see better closure," the Cincinnati coach said, though he pointed to fatigue and Miami's quality as factors.

Stats That Matter

• Possession: Miami had 60.4 percent and completed 567 passes to Cincinnati's 344.
• Shots: Nearly even at 14 to 13, with Miami putting four on target and Cincinnati three.
• Saves: Celentano made two, St. Clair one.
• Tackles: Cincinnati attempted 20 tackles to Miami's nine.
• Cards: Miami were booked three times, including Messi and Suárez. Cincinnati were not booked.

What It Means

For Miami, this one hurts in the table. They are 15-11-6 with 56 points, and New England's win over Red Bull New York the same night pushed the Revolution into second in the East, two points ahead. As the AP noted, the teams meet in Foxborough on Sunday, with the No. 2 seed in the East at stake. Miami then close at home against Charlotte on Nov. 7. "What I know is that we made mistakes again, I think, in part, due to a great deal of anxiety, especially in the second half," González said.

Cincinnati are 11-10-11 with 43 points and still chasing a playoff place. According to the AP, they needed a win in Miami and a Columbus loss to clinch, and neither happened. They are unbeaten in three, and Miami had beaten them 5-3 in Cincinnati in May, so a point here counts as progress. Up next are home games against Philadelphia on Saturday and Nashville a week later.

"We've got two games, six points to get, and we need them," Gidi said.

The Closing Take

This game was a two-act play where the first act was a long, quiet monologue and the second was a Marvel third act with everyone teleporting in at once. Miami got the cameo they needed from Fillipi. Cincinnati got the reminder that they can hang with anyone. Sunday in Foxborough just got a lot louder.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by The Associated Press and FCCincinnati.com; additional details from InterMiamiCF.com.