Highlighted by a world-class opening goal, Universitarios handled business with a 2-1 victory over MLS Supporters’ Shield-leading Inter Miami CF on Saturday night in front of a massive, animated crowd at the Houston Texans’ NRG Stadium.
In a battle between two teams who love to possess the ball, the dominant team was expected to be whichever could control the ball. That was the case, but not necessarily in the way many anticipated, as Tigres created the most problems for Miami when winning possession rather than controlling it in the opening stanza. Likewise, Inter Miami found more first-half success by playing direct.
The Herons’ best chance of the half came from a direct Matías Rojas pass over the top, flicked on by Julian Gressel to put Leo Campana in one-on-one with longtime Tigres goalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán who made the crucial save. Focused on playing through the middle, however, Miami didn’t create much else.
On the contrary, Tigres had no problem playing through midfield with the majority of possession but still created their most threatening chance of the half through the press. Tomás Avilés saw his pass intercepted resulting in a pinball that fell to the foot of reigning Liga MX Player of the Season, Juan Brunetta. Fresh off his MVP performance in the MLS All-Star Game, Brunetta continued his strong form against American opponents with a stunning full-volley that dipped into the top corner to open the scoring for Tigres.
Many goals worthy of the “Goal of the Tournament” moniker have been scored already in the group stage yet Brunetta still boasts as strong of a contender as anybody else.
Miami would take 60% of the possession in the first half hour of the second half as they searched for an equalizer but Tigres held firm. Each side had an opportunity to square an assist for a tap-in but chose to shoot instead. Tigres had their shot blocked and Miami missed theirs.
Just when it looked like Miami would not have their chance to level, Campana snuck behind Tigres captain Guido Pizarro who decided to pull down the striker rather than allow him to finish a Marcelo Weigandt cross. As a result, Campana received a penalty which he buried to level the scoring and tie Gonzalo Higuaín as the all-time leading goalscorer in Inter Miami’s five-year history on 29 goals.
For those wondering, Lionel Messi is not far behind the pair of strikers with 25 Inter Miami goals himself, including ten in this tournament last season.
Just a couple of minutes later, Campana had an opportunity to win the match for Miami but was denied by Guzmán, who prevented a potential hat trick from the Ecuadorian with his heroics on the night.
Ten minutes later, it was Tigres finding the desired winner from a recycled corner. Miami center-back Serhiy Kryvtsov’s attempted clearance landed at the feet of fellow substitute Juan Pablo Vigón who smashed his finish off the underside of the crossbar to secure all three points and group East 3 for Universitarios.
As group winners, Tigres will face the second-place finisher in group East 6 in the Round of 32 with a potential rematch against this Inter Miami team looming in the quarterfinals should both teams reach that point.
