Breel Embolo Scores From the Spot in His Atlanta United Debut to Salvage a Point in Miami

Key Debuts On Saturday Night Contribute To A Wild 2-2 Draw At Nu Stadium (photo: Jason Longshore for the SDH Network)

It was set up as the debut for Breel Embolo, ready to go and straight into the Starting XI as Atlanta United would begin a three-match, eight-day stretch at Nu Stadium in Miami against the second-place team in the Eastern Conference.

Everything would wait 85 minutes with a nasty round of thunderstorms in south Florida camping out over the stadium and Miami International Airport a few blocks to the west.

But, a little after 9PM, Embolo would debut in a front line with Miguel Almirón and Aleksey Miranchuk alongside. The midfield would be Tristan Muyumba, Will Reilly, and Cooper Sanchez. The backline would hold no surprises. Elías Báez would return from his yellow card suspension to join Paulo Díaz, Júnior Alonso, and Tomás Jacob. Lucas Hoyos would be in net.

With a slew of injuries, Guillermo Hoyos would have to use some players out of position in his XI. Dayne St. Clair would start in net. Caicedo, Falcón, Casemiro, and Fray would anchor the back, with Casemiro playing out of character at center back. Telasco Segovia, Yannick Bright, and Rodrigo De Paul would man the midfield. The forward line would be Berterame and Suárez flanking Messi.

Early on, when Inter Miami would allow Atlanta United space to work from, Júnior Alonso and Paulo Díaz would send the ball long over the backline of Inter Miami in an attempt to combine with Almirón.

Defensively, Atlanta United would collapse around the ball to prevent quick pass patterns from the Herons in their defensive third. The defense would also anticipate passing lanes well enough to clear the ball back into the middle third. If possession was lost, United would pursue to try to get the ball back as quickly as they could. If Inter Miami had the ball and tried to build from the back, pressure would come to try to force turnovers in Inter Miami's defensive half.

In the 18th minute, the Atlanta physicality would give Miami a set piece for Messi to go toward target, the effort blocked into the wall. Tristan Muyumba would have two chances in the coming minutes: a shot saved by St. Clair in the 22nd minute, and another five minutes later from the top of the 18 that sailed just over the bar.

Inter Miami would get the first goal of the match off a Messi corner won in the 31st minute. His outswinger would find Casemiro at the edge of the 6 for a header that made it 1-0 in the 32nd. But three minutes later, Atlanta United would equalize as Aleksey Miranchuk would send the ball to a sprinting Tomás Jacob up the right. Jacob would send in a cross looking for the back post run. Casemiro would go down to defend and almost create an own goal. The ball would head toward Dayne St. Clair, who would not be able to gather it from close range. Miguel Almirón would clean up the play with his fourth goal of the season to even things up at 1.

Messi would hit the post from 28 yards out on a direct free kick in the 40th minute, as Inter Miami chased the lead goal. That would come to fruition in the first minute of first-half stoppage time, as Luis Suárez did what he has done throughout his career.

Telasco Segovia would work up the left-hand side into the attacking third, finding Suárez away from net. He would avoid a Paulo Díaz slide challenge and chip Júnior Alonso's initial move to back Díaz up. His shot would be his 12th goal of the year, and give the home side the 2-1 they took to the half.

Shots in the first half were 5-4 Inter Miami (2-2 on target) and the Herons had twice as many touches inside the opponent's 18 (13-6). The activity was fairly even with Inter Miami over the first 45, but the creation on offense needed to increase to pursue the equalizer again in the second 45.

Inter Miami would get the first chance of the second half in a textbook give-and-go involving Messi and Segovia. Driving in from the right, Messi would find Segovia toward the arc, and the return ball would find Messi, whose shot would go wide of the far post.

In the 56th minute, Will Reilly would be subbed out for Steven Alzate. A minute later, Cooper Sanchez would come off for Mauricio Amaro, in his debut for United. Sanchez's early exit will be one to watch over the next few days. In the 66th minute, Matt Edwards would enter for Tomás Jacob.

In the 70th minute, Atlanta United would get the club's first penalty kick of the 2026 season. An Alzate switch to Aleksey Miranchuk would yield a pass to Almirón inside the 18. St. Clair would save his shot, the ball squirting out for a corner, but VAR would call for a review of Casemiro's contact on Miguel as the shot was taken. Studs would be visible on the replay, and Almirón would go to the spot.

In the 73rd minute, Dayne St. Clair would dive to his left for the save, and the margin would stay at 2-1.

Atlanta would have another opportunity for an equalizer in the 77th, as Tristan Muyumba would anticipate the offensive pass pattern well to create a turnover. His pass would find Breel Embolo, who would square for Miranchuk, and the shot would go just wide of the far post. Two minutes later, another chance would have Mauricio Amaro swing twice, the second shot going wide.

Atlanta United had not had a single penalty kick all season going into tonight. They would get their second in the 85th minute. A Caicedo pass into the middle third would be intercepted and eventually would land at the feet of Fafà Picault. His first touch would find Embolo just inside the 18, and Caicedo would compound the issue he created with a pull and spin of the Atlanta striker.

In the 87th minute, Embolo would send the ball past St. Clair for the equalizer. And in the 95th minute, Embolo would launch a shot from 25 yards out that would just go over the crossbar. With two minutes to go, Lucas Hoyos would have a crucial kick save through traffic on Messi, and the chaos would yield another shot wide of the far post, with defensive help from Alonso on the follow.

Two late corners would add to the Five Stripes After Dark legend, with a save off a Messi Olympico and a Berterame header, assisted by Yannick Bright, sailing just over the bar at the death. The match would end with honors even.

Tata Martino did not undersell what his newest signing had just produced. "This isn't a small detail. He played the entire match, all 90 minutes," Martino said afterward. "Normally he should have been a player who could go 60, 65 minutes, because he's very recently arrived. This week he finished his visa paperwork in Canada, and honestly he showed a lot of bravery and a lot of courage to get through 90 minutes, and on top of that to score the equalizer, with the penalty committed on him. So we really value what he gave the team in this first match."

Debuts from Breel Embolo and Mauricio Amaro added to the growth for Atlanta United, with all the new faces and personalities in house. The sandpaper, grit, and lack of being intimidated by Inter Miami, especially in the second half chasing the equalizer, were certainly building blocks going forward.

Martino saw the same thing from the touchline. Asked whether the team's character was changing, he was careful with the framing. "I don't know if the character is changing, because I also didn't really know it before, and I don't like the topic of comparisons, especially with a period I wasn't part of," he said. "What I do know is that tonight we had character."

Atlanta United (6-13-4, 22 points, 14th in East) now has to return home for a mid-week match at Mercedes-Benz Stadium against Orlando City Wednesday night.