MLS: Pizarro, Inter Miami Win Mexican Face-Off Against Atlanta United
Inter Miami and Rodolfo Pizarro faced off today against the Jurgen Damm and Erick Torres squad of Atlanta United in today’s slate of mid-week MLS action. Both teams were entering this game in poor form, as both have had a rather disappointing season so far. Inter Miami had up until the start of this game only won one game out of 9 so far. Atlanta had only won 3 out of 9, far from being the dominant squad MLS fans had been used to seeing.
The game began with Pizarro a starter, as well as ex-Tigres Jurgen Damm and Erick “Cubo” Torres as starters for Atlanta. All of the night’s goals were scored during the first half, starting with the first of the night, a goal scored by Inter Miami thanks to a great Pizarro effort and assist. The first goal was scored in the 28th minute, with the equalizer from Atlanta coming at the 33rd minute. Pizarro’s squad would again score in the 38th minute to make it 2-1 for the home team. Atlanta had the opportunity to equalize towards the end of the first half via a penalty kick. After Ezequiel Barco had his penalty shot blocked, the rebound was caught by Erick Torres who managed to score. It appeared to be that Torres had scored his first goal with the Atlanta side, however, after further VAR review, the goal was disallowed due to penalty area encroachment. In the ensuing re-do of the penalty kick, Ezequiel Barco once again had his shot blocked. Jurgen Damm and Erick Torres played most of the game for Atlanta, being subbed out at the 63rd and 81st minutes of play respectively. Pizarro for his end played the full 90 minutes and saw his team win 2-1.
With the win, Inter Miami is still second to last in the Eastern Conference, but get closer to the middle of the table, being only 3 points behind Atlanta United, who stand in 8th place in the East. Up next for Pizarro and Inter Miami is the 4th place Orlando City on Saturday Sept 12. For the Mexican duo of Damm and Cubo, they will face off against Nashville on that same day.
