Lionel Messi set up a Rodrigo De Paul goal, while German Berterame ended his scoring drought as Inter Miami booked their place in the MLS playoffs with a 2-0 win over New York City FC yesterday (14 October).
The victory gave Cristian 'Kily' Gonzalez his first back-to-back wins since taking over as head coach last month. It also guaranteed second-placed Miami at least a place in the wild-card round, with five games left to play.
"I'm leaving happy. Obviously, there's a lot to improve, but we're making progress little by little," Gonzalez said.
Messi, who scored twice on Saturday after returning to his club from Argentina's emotional farewell to him last week, was again a dangerous presence, playing a part in both first-half goals.
In the 20th minute, Messi controlled the ball just outside the penalty area and passed it to De Paul, who played a looping diagonal ball to Suarez on the byline.
Suarez rolled the ball across the face of the goal, allowing Berterame to score from close range for his first goal since May.
De Paul scored Miami's second with the final kick of the first half following a quick counterattack. Berterame carried the ball across the halfway line and was slightly fortunate to find Messi on his right with a misdirected pass.
Messi drew in three defenders before laying the ball off with the outside of his left foot to De Paul, who fired it high to the goalkeeper's right.
In a goalless second half, Messi sent a curling effort from just outside the box over the crossbar.
As the clock reached 90 minutes, Messi played a short corner to De Paul, who unleashed a shot from outside the box towards the far top corner. United States national team goalkeeper Matt Freese made a superb diving save, tipping the ball onto the post.
New York City, enduring a poor run of just one win in their previous 11 MLS games, had a chance to score a consolation goal deep into stoppage time when they were awarded a penalty.
Ian Fray brought down fellow substitute Talles Magno, who turned sharply away from goal and ran into the defender's trailing leg.
However, Dayne St. Clair made a brilliant save, diving low to his right to palm the ball around the post.
It was Inter Miami's second consecutive clean sheet after failing to keep one in their previous 10 matches.
"I really liked how we handled dropping back into defensive shape. We didn't get caught out on the counter and were very aggressive, breaking up plays whenever a sudden transition from them looked likely," Gonzalez said.
"Perhaps our ball circulation was a bit too slow at times, but that's just how the game played out."
Although Eastern Conference leader Nashville remained out of reach this season, the win strengthened Miami's hold on second place and secured home-field advantage for the playoffs.