FOXBOROUGH — The Revolution showed Inter Miami might need more than Lionel Messi to rescue their season in taking a 3-1 victory before a crowd of 36,235 Saturday night.
But, though the Revolution controlled most of the game, their second-half struggles indicated they also should go for reinforcements in the second half of the season.
Carles Gil, Matt Polster, and Bobby Wood converted for the Revolution (8-3-6, 30 points), who snapped a five-game league winless streak. Miami (5-12-0, 15 points), which expects to add Messi to the roster next month, lost its fourth successive league match.
Gil and Polster combined on the opening two goals. On the opening score, Gil threaded a pass into the penalty arc for Polster, who touched past DeAndre Yedlin and went down, referee Sergii Boiko immediately awarding a penalty. Gil converted the penalty kick into the right side of the net in the 27th minute, his sixth goal of the season and seventh successive successful penalty since 2020.
The Revolution continued to threaten, and seconds after Miami lost Corentin Jean to a non-contact injury, Polster headed in a Gil corner kick in the 34th minute.
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Wood upped the lead to 3-0, scoring his sixth goal of the season off a Gil through ball in the 51st minute.
Josef Martinez cut the deficit with a penalty kick in the 84th minute, after an Andrew Farrell foul attempting a clearance.
“The [second-half] changes we made didn’t help us at all,” Revolution coach Bruce Arena said. “That was disappointing. The midway point, to have 30 points with the injuries we’ve had and everything else, is OK. The first half of the season was good, certainly wasn’t great. We’ve got to get better. We’re hopeful in August we get Henry [Kessler] back and we stay injury-free and get some guys healthy and back in form, and when we’re in the end of the season we can be at our best. Because right now it’s difficult with all the juggling of players we’re doing.”
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Observations from Saturday’s game:
▪ Defining moment: Miami began controlling possession with the addition of Rodolfo Pizarro in the second half. But Gil came through when it counted, finding himself unmarked behind the halfway line, with plenty of time and space to pick out Wood for the third goal.
▪Difference-maker: Inter Miami pressured Gil in taking a 2-1 victory last month, but failed to keep up with him this time, as he was involved in all the Revolution goals. Support from Latif Blessing and Polster helped key the Revolution’s five-man midfield.
▪ Tactical: The Revolution went with a 3-5-2 alignment for the second successive game, but Arena said they will probably revert to a four-man back line with the expected return of right back Brandon Bye next week.
▪ Statistical analysis: Miami had 56 percent possession, thanks to the addition of second-half substitutes Campana, Pizarro, and Robert Taylor. Meanwhile, the Revolution bench failed to improve the team’s play.
▪ Road ahead: The Revolution, who slumped from first to fourth place in the Eastern Conference in the last month, start the second half of the season against Orlando City SC at home next Saturday, then play host to Toronto FC on June 24. The Revolution have a 5-0-3 home record.
▪ What they said: “I think bringing in Lionel Messi into our league is fabulous and whatever they can do — if they had three DPs already and they brought him in I could live with it. If Messi was on the field tonight, it would’ve been a real challenge for us.” (Arena)
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Frank Dell'Apa can be reached at frankdellapa@gmail.com.