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Luis Suárez scored a goal and assisted on three others to lead Inter Miami to a dominant 4-1 victory over the host Houston Dynamo on Sunday night.
Inter Miami (1-0-1, 4 points) picked up its first victory of the MLS season despite the absence of superstar Lionel Messi, who remained in South Florida as the team chose to give the 37-year-old some extra rest.
“With respect to Leo, obviously we talked about it and I always say the same thing, there is no one, I don’t know any player in the world that knows their body as Leo knows it,” Miami coach Javier Mascherano said of his decision for Messi not to travel. “And well after three games in six days … we thought that the best thing was to be able to rest especially on a trip that was a trip to the other coast of two-and-a-half, three hours.”
Inter Miami picked up its third victory overall across all competitions and next will play in the round of 16 of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Houston (0-2-0, 0 points) has opened the season with consecutive home losses.
Telasco Segovia had two goals and an assist for Inter Miami, and Tadeo Allende scored his first MLS regular season goal of the season.
Suárez’s precise passes led to Miami’s first three scores. He then delivered a fourth himself in the 79th minute by slicing through Houston’s defense on a stellar individual effort.
“Everything he has done in football, he’s one of the best five forward centers in the world in the last 10 years,” Mascherano said of Suárez after the match. “He’s played in great teams, he’s had a very big influence on everyone. Not only in Barcelona, but also in Liverpool, Atlético Madrid.
“Obviously, for me it’s a privilege as a coach to train this type of player.”
Segovia scored in the sixth minute and in the second minute of first-half stoppage time.
The first came as a result of a giveaway by Houston in its own 18-yard box when Obafemi Awodesu had a pass deflected by Benjamin Cremaschi. The ball trickled to Suárez, who delivered a quick cross to Segovia, allowing him to fire a quick shot past Houston keeper Andrew Tarbell.
Allende scored Miami’s second goal when he took a ball perfectly looped to him in stride by Suárez and, while on a full sprint, fired a high crossing shot from distance with his left foot past Tarbell.
Inter Miami’s Yannick Bright, who returned from a thigh injury, stole the ball just past midfield and began the sequence that led to Suárez’s cross to Segovia for his second goal and Miami’s third.
Nicolas Lodeiro scored the Dynamo’s lone goal in the 85th minute on a shot that bounced off Inter Miami’s Oscar Ustari and into the back of the net.
Houston’s Ezequiel Ponce appeared to score in the 61st minute when he headed in a free kick by Jack McGlynn, but he was ruled offside.
After the game Inter Miami defender Ian Fray got into a verbal exchange with a couple of Houston players and was issued a red card.
