Messi scores, but Inter Miami winless streak hits five with 2-1 loss to Toronto

Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald on Aug 23, 2026

Published in Soccer

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MIAMI — Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates, mired in a funk and aiming to turn things around, instead looked flat and struggled at home Saturday night in a 2-1 loss to a Toronto team that had won just one of its previous 14 games.

Miami, the defending MLS champion and star-studded team with the highest payroll, is on a five-game winless streak with just one victory and four losses in the month of August. The team remains in second place in the East behind Nashville, but fell eight points behind with the loss and Chicago, with a game in hand, is creeping up just three points behind.

Inter Miami coach Guillermo Hoyos took responsibility for the team’s troubles.

“When something like this happens, I have to take personal responsibility,” Hoyos said. “It hurts not only me, but the entire coaching staff and everyone who works for the club. We have had situations in our lives that also have been tough.’’

Asked whether he felt the team’s struggles were due more to tactical issues, lineups, fatigue or lack of motivation, and how they can be fixed, Hoyos responded: “Our players never play without determination. Never. It’s a situation we are living, and we have to face it and take responsibility [as coaches]. We have a lot of experience and when we started, thank God we started very well. We will continue to trust in God.”

Josh Sargent and Derrick Etienne Jr. scored for Toronto in the 59th and 62nd minutes to give the visitors a 2-0 lead, taking advantage of a disorganized and vulnerable Miami defense that has given up 13 goals over the past five games. Inter Miami’s most diehard fans, La Familia, sang and banged their drums, hoping to energize their team, but nothing seemed to make a difference.

Former Inter Miami star Jordi Alba, the legendary Spanish left back who retired unexpectedly after last season, was watching from the stands. His former teammates surely missed him.

In the 82nd minute, just when it seemed Miami was out of the game, Messi got behind the Toronto defense, Rodrigo De Paul found him with a nice through ball, and the Argentine captain made a clinical finish with his left foot to the bottom left corner to give Inter Miami fans a reason to hope.

It wasn’t enough.

When the final whistle ended, Messi and the rest of the men in pink trudged off the field and the silent, disappointed crowd headed to the parking lots.

“We tried to get out of this bad streak, just like last year, we also had a bad stretch and were able to pull ahead and win the championship,” said Miami center back Maxi Falcon. “Of course, right now, everything looks dark, but I think we did good things in the game. It’s details. We have to stay more together than ever and keep working hard to correct mistakes.”

Told that Hoyos had taken responsibility for the loss, Falcon said: “We are a team. When we win, we win as a team and when we lose, we lose as a team. There is a lot to improve, but we have the players to do it. We have big players ... as a defense it hurts a lot. We are giving up too many goals. Last year at the end of the season we were able to fix that.”

The Inter Miami attack was expected to get a boost as German Berterame returned to the starting lineup for the first time since suffering a concussion on July 25. Berterame started up front along with Luis Suarez, but the duo were unable to find the back of the net in a listless first half that remained scoreless as the teams headed to intermission.

Suarez had Miami’s only shot on goal in the first half, but his errant close-range shot missed to the right in the 19th minute.

Both teams had trouble creating scoring chances and neither goalkeeper was challenged in the first half. Toronto showed more life in the second half while Miami had trouble keeping the ball and getting into scoring positions. After 75 minutes, Miami had managed just one shot on goal. Berterame had a few chances, but failed to finish.

Berterame missed the previous six games on concussion protocol, recovering from a hard hit to the head during the road game at Montreal. He was knocked unconscious and left the field in an ambulance.

Berterame spoke to the media on Friday, recounted the scary episode, adding that it was traumatic for his family watching the images on TV from home.

Miami’s next game is at home against CF Montreal on Aug. 29.