Colorado Rapids earn 'good point on the road' against Inter Miami

Colorado Rapids boss Chris Armas believed his side earned a "good point on the road" against an Inter Miami team that welcomed superstar Lionel Messi back from injury.

The Rapids were flowing with confidence heading into the Saturday night clash at Chase Stadium after toppling LAFC 3-2 the week before. Djordje Mihailovic scored his first two goals for the club - a picture-perfect free kick to tie the game before smashing one home from close-range to win the contest - and the Herons fielded a rather inexperienced lineup, giving the visitors a chance from the jump.

Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez were all on the bench to start the game, meaning Colorado had the opportunity to play the game on their terms in the first half, which is exactly what they did. Colorado's persistence led to a Rafael Navarro converted penalty attempt that saw the Western Conference club take a 1-0 lead into halftime.

When the teams came out for the second 45, that's when everything changed. Messi was substituted on in his first appearance since March 13 due to a lingering hamstring injury, while Busquets and Alba took the field later on in the contest (Suarez was an unused substitute).

Miami's No. 10 found the back of the net to level things up before playing a vital role in the buildup for Leo Afonso's go-ahead goal. Everything appeared to be crumbling down for the Rapids, that is until Calvin Harris played Cole Bassett through on goal in the 88th minute. The young midfielder smashed the chance home across the face of goal, as Drake Callender was unable to get a glove to it.

After the game, Armas spoke to the media about how proud he was to see his team fight back in the face of adversity and not give in when Messi entered and just about took over the game.

"The team believes that we can be hard to beat, and we will try to play against anybody," Armas said. "So, it's a good point on the road for us. We knew it would be tough, we knew we'd see their strong team at some point on the night and you can see how things change quickly against some of the best players in the world.

"So, we don't really want to make a habit of going down, but we do want to make a habit to be able to come back in games, players that cannot give in and give up. As a coaching staff and as the head coach to remain aggressive and push, push for goals and wins and to be aggressive. So yeah, it's a positive step. We leave there feeling good, and I leave there knowing we have a lot of work to do if I'm being realistic here."

The former Manchester United assistant then went into detail about how a team goes about preparing to take on a player of Messi's caliber and how difficult it can be not knowing right until kickoff that the 36-year-old was included in Miami's squad.

"Well, imagine the preparation this week. If Messi plays, if Messi doesn't play, we don't try to confuse the guys and overwhelm them with so much information. If you know that they're playing, then you can really be specific of how to go about that. So, then it's at the last, an hour before you find out they're not starting so what becomes the message right? So, we didn't flood them with too much information and anxiety in that way," he said.

"In the second half, it just goes in waves now we're caught in transition, Messi is on the pitch, it becomes a little bit back and forth, which personally I think we all like control but I kind of like when it gets out of control sometimes because I think our guys can run and then we can play with verticality. As a team, we'll get to that, we're trying to add a lot. I'm proud that the coaches stayed aggressive for all of them and myself. We just tried to stay aggressive, to try to push, we got rewarded and almost got the winner."

The Rapids, now with nine points collected from seven games played, take the field again this Saturday on the road at PayPal Park against the struggling San Jose Earthquakes, who have just one win and six defeats in seven games.