Inter Miami was without Lionel Messi and suffered its first loss since his arrival in July in a 5-2 humbling at Atlanta United in front of a crowd of 71,635 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday.
Tristan Muyumba, Brooks Lennon and a Kamal Miller own goal put the home side in front at the end of the first half before Georgios Giakoumakis and Tyler Wolff each scored in the second as Atlanta (12-8-9, 45 points) improved to 9-3-3 at home. The club remains in sixth in the MLS Eastern Conference after the victory.
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Leonardo Campana scored twice for Miami (8-15-4, 28 points), who saw their 12-game unbeaten streak across all competitions come to an end.
Miami manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino said Messi and Spanish defender Jordi Alba missed the game due to “muscular fatigue” and that their absences were not related to the FieldTurf surface at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Atlanta United coach Gonzalo Pineda said he learned about Messi’s decision on social media.
“I checked the Twitter account to know he was not coming,” Pineda said, adding he encouraged his players to remain focused despite the attention given Messi’s status.
“Honestly, I told the players, there are a lot of things out there in the atmosphere and everything seems to be about Inter Miami. We have to turn that to about us.”
Brooks Lennon and Tristan Muyumba of Atlanta United celebrate after a goal as Inter Miami’s Sergio Busquets hangs his head in disappointment.
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Trailing 3-1 early in the second half, Campana’s second goal on a penalty kick pulled Inter Miami to within one.
Giakoumakis responded for Atlanta in the 76th minute, restoring the two-goal lead, and Wolff added an insurance score in the 89th minute. Giakoumakis’ 14th goal tied him for the league lead.
Inter Miami opened the scoring in the 25th minute on Campana’s eighth goal of the season. Atlanta erased the deficit by scoring three times in eight minutes to carry a 3-1 lead into half-time.
Campana took the rebound off Dixon Arroyo’s strike, which hit the post, and got around Atlanta defender Miles Robinson with some fancy footwork before beating Brad Guzan.
Muyumba scored the equalizer for Atlanta in the 36th minute, putting a header past Miami keeper Drake Callender. The play was reviewed to determine if the ball crossed the goal line, but the video was inconclusive.
Atlanta took the lead with an own goal. Xande Silva’s strike deflected off Inter Miami defender Kamal Miller and past Callender.
Lennon gave Atlanta a 3-1 lead, taking a Caleb Wiley cross and beating Callender with a right-footed strike from the middle of the box for his fourth goal of the season.
Miami has matches at home against Toronto on Wednesday and at Orlando on Sept. 24 before the U.S. Open Cup final against the Houston Dynamo three days later.
Information from Reuters and the Associated Press was used in this report.
