Eastern Conference leaders New England Revolution were held to a 1-1 draw at home to second-placed FC Cincinnati while Inter Miami ended a run of six straight losses with a win at Columbus in MLS on Saturday.
New England, who head the Supporters Shield standings for the best overall record, suffered an early blow when Colombian international winger Dylan Borrero was stretchered off with a knee injury. Cincinnati then wasted a chance to grab the lead when Revs keeper Djordje Petrovic saved Luciano Acosta's penalty kick after a Justin Rennicks handball.
But the Ohio side got in front in the 31st minute with a Yerson Mosquera header from an Alvaro Barreal corner. Bruce Arena's New England drew level though on the stroke of half-time with right wing-back Brandon Bye powering down the right and delivering a low cross to the back post which was turned in by Ghanaian striker Emmanuel Boateng.
Petrovic was in fine form in goal for New England, producing a great save from Sergio Santos after good work from Acosta but Cincinnati should have claimed all the points at the death when Nick Hagglund was left wide open but headed wide. "Considering we went a goal down and came back at the end of the first half to equalize, I guess it was a positive and I thought we brought a lot of energy to the game in the second half," said Arena, the former U.S. national team coach.
"I guess we walk off the field and think it's OK but we have to do better," he added. The pressure on Inter Miami coach Phil Neville eased after his team ended their barren run with an impressive win at Columbus. Neville left close-season signing Josef Martinez on the bench, opting for a strike pairing of Ecuadorian Leonardo Campana and 18-year-old youth product Benjamin Cremaschi and the decision paid off instantly.
Campana opened the scoring in the seventh minute, firing home after Cremaschi had cleverly headed down a Nicolas Stefanelli cross into his path. But the Miami lead lasted only three minutes with Colombian Cucho Hernandez curling a beautiful shot into the far corner to make it 1-1. Campana restored Miami's lead three minutes before half-time with an angled header from a Jean Mota corner which snuck in at the near post.
Miami survived a late scare with a VAR review for a potential handball in the penalty area but Neville breathed a sigh of relief when the referee blew the final whistle.