Inter Miami saw off the Columbus Crew 1-0 in MLS on Saturday thanks to a spectacular header from Benjamin Cremaschi.
2025 Major League Soccer
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Match Report
Fans flocked to Huntington Bank Field - home of the Cleveland Browns - to witness Lionel Messi and his former fellow Barcelona stars Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba in action for Miami.
But it was a lesser light in Cremaschi who proved decisive, as he converted with a brilliant diving header from Marcelo Weigandt's right-wing cross in the 30th minute.
Messi saw a goal-bound attempt blocked and then curled wide, but despite leading Miami for shots, with four, the superstar Argentine cut a relatively frustrated figure.
Instead, Columbus largely dominated, but failed to put away their chances as their unbeaten start to the season ended.
Daniel Gazdag, making his first league start since he joined the Crew from the Philadelphia Union, was particularly wasteful.
He lofted over from the game's first clear opening, though his big misses came late on.
After heading over the bar from close range, Gazdag then failed to turn home twice from inside the six-yard box in stoppage time.
Miami also had goalkeeper Oscar Ustari to thank, as he made four saves to preserve their clean sheet and extend their unbeaten run to eight MLS matches.
The Herons are now unbeaten in 19 regular-season games stretching back to last term, equalling the longest such unbeaten run in MLS history, previously set by FC Dallas in 2010-11 and Columbus in 2004-05.
Taking home all 3 points pic.twitter.com/hvRQ9imZnD
— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) April 19, 2025
Miami moved above the Crew into top spot in the Eastern Conference, but reigning MLS Cup champions the LA Galaxy continue to struggle.
The Galaxy lost 1-0 to Austin FC and are planted to the bottom of the West after Brandon Vazquez made up for a penalty miss by scoring in the 81st minute.
Data Debrief: Gazdag's big day falls flat
Gazdag was only acquired by the Crew earlier this month, having scored twice in six MLS appearances for Philadelphia this season already.
But his full debut did not go according to plan, as he failed to get any of his four attempts on target. In fact, Gazdag accounted for 1.19 of the Crew's 3.14 expected goals.
It was, then, something of a smash and grab for Miami, who had just seven shots and accumulated chances worth 0.86 xG, though Javier Mascherano's team were more clinical, getting two shots on target, whereas Columbus only hit the target with three of their 16 attempts.
Miami are now unbeaten in six straight regular-season meetings with the Crew.
Match Events
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13' Highlight from Columbus SC vs Inter Miami CF
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30' GOAL! Columbus SC 0-1 Inter Miami CF (Benja Cremaschi)
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Line-ups
Columbus SC XI: Darlington Nagbe, Steven Moreira, Dániel Gazdag, Diego Rossi, Malte Amundsen, Dylan Chambost, Patrick Schulte, Jacen Russell-Rowe, Sean Zawadzki, Mohamed Farsi, Max Arfsten
Subs: Evan Bush, Yevgen Cheberko, Derrick Jones, Andrés Herrera, AZ Jackson, Amar Sejdić, Taha Habroune, Cole Mrowka, Cesar Ruvalcaba
Inter Miami CF XI: Óscar Ustari, Messi, Suarez, Alba, Busquets, Marcelo Weigandt, Tadeo Allende, Gonzalo Luján, Noah Allen, Benja Cremaschi, Yannick Bright
Subs: Robert Taylor, Fafà Picault, David Martínez, Maximiliano Falcón, Telasco Segovia, Drake Callender, Ian Fray, Allen Obando, Tomás Avilés