Audi MLS Cup Playoffs: Can Inter Miami really do this?

Things got even more complicated as the match played out, as Avilés and his fellow center back Sergii Kryvtsov came off at halftime due to caution concerns and concussion protocol, respectively. Amid all those headwinds, it represented a massive breakthrough when Ruiz sniffed out the rebound to open the scoring after Pedro Gallese could only parry Josef Martínez’s shot in the 52nd minute.

Orlando’s response was ferocious, and Duncan McGuire’s 66th-minute equalizer a fair reward for their dominance down the stretch, with a final expected-goals tally of 1.4 to 0.7 underlining OCSC’s superiority in the final stages. The Lions have reason to rue their imperfect finishing, yet as their leader made clear, their efforts up to this point have earned them a cushion Miami can only envy.

“I told the players, there is no sense of frustration at all today. We’re good. We’re going on,” said Oscar Pareja. “Just look at the standings, look how the things are and how we gave us the opportunity to be in this position. And we still have two games at home and two games away.

“Miami will have their own problems and we’ll see how they resolve it,” he later added when asked whether his club might prefer to extinguish the Herons’ postseason hopes. “Obviously this rivalry is growing and as it grows, we don’t want it, but if we have them in playoffs, we will take them, there is no problem for us.”

Nine times out of 10, Miami would happily grab this outcome with both hands.