FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — David Ruiz had a goal and an assist on Josef Martínez’s go-ahead score before picking up a red card to help Inter Miami hold off the Eastern Conference-leading New England Revolution 2-1 on Saturday night.
Ruiz staked Inter Miami (5-6-0) to an early lead when he took a pass from Leonardo Campana and scored in the 6th minute. It was the first career goal for the 19-year-old rookie midfielder.
New England (7-2-3) thought it had scored the equalizer on a goal by 18-year-old midfielder Noel Buck in the 17th minute but it was disallowed because of an offside foul. Instead, the Revolution had to wait until the 26th minute to pull even when Carles Gil took passes from Matt Polster and DeJuan Jones and scored his third goal of the season.
Inter Miami took a 2-1 lead into halftime on a goal by Martínez in the 44th minute. Ruiz and DeAndre Yedlin had assists on Martínez’s league-high ninth netter of the season. Martinez entered play tied with Seattle’s Jordan Morris and San Jose’s Jeremy Ebobisse for the league lead. Martínez has scored seven goals in nine career matches against the Revolution. Three of them came in the first meeting in 2017.
Ruiz forced Inter Miami to play a man down after he picked up a second yellow card in the 81st minute.
Djordje Petrovic had one save for New England. Drake Callender saved one shot for Inter Miami.
Inter Miami is the third team in league history to win three straight after losing six in a row. The 1997 Colorado Rapids won five straight following a six-match skid and New England had a three-match run in 2001.
Campana had a hat trick the last time the two teams met in April of 2022 — the only one allowed by the Revolution under coach Bruce Arena.
Inter Miami has a 3-2-0 record in the series.
Inter Miami travels to play Nashville SC on Wednesday. New England travels to play the Philadelphia Union on Saturday.
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