Inter Miami overwhelm New York City to win Eastern Conference Final

In the end, it wasn't close.

A short-handed New York City FC battled Inter Miami bravely, but lost 5-1 in the MLS Eastern Conference Final to close out the 2025 season.

Miami's Tadeo Allende scored twice in the first half before Brooklyn's own Justin Haak scored to pull New York City within one. IMCF pulled away late in the second half, with Mateo Silvetti and Telasco Segovia notching goals before Allende capped the night by scoring his third and Miami's fifth goal, getting the hat trick and tying the MLS postseason goal record.

The Herons will move on and host Vancouver Whitecaps FC in their first MLS Cup Final next Saturday; the Pigeons, meanwhile, might well look back at a couple of missed chances in this game and wonder "what if." Even so, this playoff run clearly marks New York City as a contender heading into next season. 

Cagey, disjointed game turns on one moment

You wouldn't imagine it by the scoreline, but the first 65 minutes or so of this game were tense and muddled.

Miami led 2-1, but all three goals had come against the run of play. Moreover, New York City made a few halftime adjustments to tighten up the midfield, denying Lionel Messi time and space to create.

Critically, Pigeons coach Pascal Jansen subbed in Hannes Wolf for Johnny Shore at halftime, which gave New York City more teeth in their attack. It nearly paid off right away as an unsettled Rocco Rios Novo, Miami's goalkeeper, misplayed a pass to one of his defenders, but Maxi Moralez couldn't even get a shot off as he intercepted the pass.

The Pigeons kept the pressure up for the next twenty minutes, and looked to be the more likely of the two teams to score. Finally, in the 66th minute, Nico Fernández Mercau played a deft one-two with Wolf, then slotted a pass across to an unmarked Julián Fernández, who'd been just subbed in for Agustín Ojeda. Fernández fired a first-time shot, but Rios Novo stretched just enough to tip it over the crossbar and deny New York City the equalizer. 

That was the turning point. On the restart, Miami immediately launched a counterattack; Rodrigo de Paul's cross into the box got hooked into the middle by Jordi Alba, and landed at Leo Messi's feet. Messi then slipped the ball to Mateo Silvetti, who found himself wide open as NYCFC defender Thiago Martins was slow to react. Silvetti scored to make the score 3-1, and from there, the Herons were in complete control.

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Miami invincible? Not so fast

Inter Miami came into this game as prohibitive favorites, and the first 20 minutes bore that out. Miami's Tadeo Allende scored in the 14th and 23rd minutes, giving the sense that this game was essentially over. It wasn't.

In between those two goals, though, there was a flurry of shoving and arguing between the two teams, as Maxi Moralez and Maximiliano Falcon got tangled up with each other. That dustup was emblematic of a tetchy first half in which Miami just couldn't shake off a depleted but determined New York City squad. After Justin Haak scored in the 37th minute to make it 2-1, you could feel the tension rising. 

Obviously, that's not how it ended. But it makes one think. For as much as people talk about Miami being a "juggernaut," this is a club that's more notable for missing out on titles than they are for winning them. I don't need to detail their history here. What I will say is that if a New York City team that was missing critical pieces – including their leading scorer – could discombobulate Miami this much, I would be very hesitant to crown them as champions-in-waiting.

You could absolutely see Vancouver giving this Miami team fits, especially with how well Jesper Sørensen game plans against opponents. If the Whitecaps take an early lead like they did against San Diego, that takes Miami out of their comfort zone and forces them to chase the game, quite unlike their current playoff run. 

What's next for the Pigeons?

Give New York City credit: for much of this game, they went toe-to-toe with Miami. Ultimately, they lacked the depth and firepower to pull off the upset, but Jansen put them in position to do it.

While a loss is disappointing, there's no shame in losing to a team featuring Leo Messi, Jordi Alba, and Sergio Busquets on the road. Now that the season's over...what do they do?

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Hudson River BlueJohn Baney

First things first: they need to find replacements for Alonso Martínez and, potentially, Keaton Parks, given the latter's extended and frequent injury absences. Martínez will miss much of the 2026 season as he recovers from the devastating knee injury he suffered with Costa Rica.

Beyond the roster questions, though, there should be a lot of optimism around here next year. The Pigeons served notice that they're an Eastern Conference contender with their performance in this year's MLS Cup Playoffs. It'll be fascinating to see how they build on that during the offseason.