No Messi, no worries. Gomez goal, Redondo brace lead Inter Miami to 3-1 win vs. Toronto

Copa America is over, the tourists and international journalists have gone home, but professional soccer carried on in South Florida on Wednesday night as Inter Miami defeated Toronto FC 3-1 at Chase Stadium to regain first place in the MLS standings with 10 games remaining in the regular season.

Captain Lionel Messi is out indefinitely with an ankle injury, wearing a walking boot, and watched with his family from a field-level suite as fellow Argentine Fede Redondo scored two second-half goals, his first goals for Miami, and Diego Gomez scored the opening goal to give Miami a 3-0 lead at the 60-minute mark. Miami has won five of its past six games without Messi.

Derrick Etienne Jr. put Toronto on the board in the 79th minute to prevent the Miami shutout.

With the win, Miami regains first place from FC Cincinnati in the Supporters Shield race. Inter Miami has 50 points on 15 wins, four losses and five ties heading into another home game Saturday against the Chicago Fire.

Inter Miami coach Tata Martino did not want to speculate about how long Messi may be out of action.

“Leo will continue to be evaluated by our medical staff week to week,” Martino said. “We will see how he recuperates without taking any type of risk.”

Luis Suarez, who helped lead Uruguay to third place in the Copa, came off the bench in the 62nd minute for Miami. He replaced new-look Leo Campana, with bleached blond hair, who started at forward as fans did a double-take.

Goalkeeper Drake Callender was playing his 100 ^th game for Inter Miami, the first player in club history to reach that milestone and he made it memorable. He made two first-half saves, and the second one was spectacular. Toronto’s Italian No. 10 Federico Bernardeschi blasted a shot that was headed to the upper right corner when Callender stretched out and swatted it away just before halftime.

“As always, Drake was very decisive when the team needs him,” Martino said. “He made two stops that for him is normal because we are so used to seeing him make those plays. We also congratulate him for his first 100 games in the league.”

Gomez made his last appearance for Miami before heading to France on Thursday to represent Paraguay at the Paris Olympics, and he will leave on a high note after scoring a golazo in the 43rd minute to give Miami a 1-0 lead at halftime. Gomez made a nice diagonal run, collected a perfectly placed arching pass by Redondo and blasted it into the net. His teammates swarmed him after to celebrate.

“Diego had a very good game,” Martino said. “He is a player who adapts well to playing on the left side. He had a nice goal, a nice assist and he surely was one of the best players on the field.”

It was Redondo’s turn to score after intermission. His first goal was a header off a curling Julian Gressel free kick in the 53rd minute. Six minutes later, Redondo struck again after an exquisite sequence that began with a Gressel diagonal pass to Gomez, who was on the left side the box and centered it to Redondo, who slipped it into the net with his signature black boot.

“Fede played better as the game went on and for us it is very favorable for our right midfielder to score two goals,” Martino said. “That’s very good news. The final 15 minutes he played very well. He has important qualities. Our intention for Fede is for him to be a holding midfielder but also be involved in the attack, which was not his role as much in the past. He is tall, gets into the area, and has a good aerial game.”

Midfielder Sergio Busquets watched from a suite as he served a red card suspension.

The Inter Miami Starting XI: Callender, Tomas Aviles, Ian Fray, Jordi Alba, Sergiy Kryvtsov, Redondo, Matias Rojas, Gomez, Gressel, and Yannick Bright.

Toronto’s starting lineup included Sean Johnson, Kevin Long, Nicksoen Gomis, Raoul Petretta, Federico Bernardeschi, Etienne Jr., Deybi Flores, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Lorenzo Insigne, and Deandre Kerr.

Inter Miami had won four games in a row without leading scorers Messi and Suarez, who combined for 24 goals before leaving for Copa America, but a 6-1 rout at FC Cincinnati briefly dropped Miami to second place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Center back Sergiy Kryvstov left the game with an injury in the 35th minute and was replaced by Noah Allen, the 20-year-old Pembroke Pines native who had not played much in recent games. Martino made it a point to praise Allen’s performance.

“Noah had a great game, especially because it’s tough to come in 30 minutes into a game,” Martino said. “But whenever we need Noah to come into a game, whether it’s in the first half or the second half, he adapts very quickly to the game and he did it again. Sometimes I feel it is unfair that I cannot find a place for him in the lineup, but I’ve gotten used to the idea that whenever we need him, he responds well.”