Inter Miami qualified this Friday for the semifinals of League Cup by imposing on charlotte fc 4-0 in a match where Leo Messi scored the final goal of the Florida team’s victory. That was the match where the Argentine had to show the least, without Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino’s men accusing him. The pink outfit will play for a place in the Leagues Cup final against the winner of the quarterfinal match between Philadelphia Union and Querétaro.
The Argentine coach included only one novelty in the eleven, that of Benjamín Cremaschi, one of the heroes of the return to Dallas and won the title at the expense of Paraguayan Diego Gómez. Inter Miami jumped on the pitch wanting the ball, proposed against a Charlotte that retreated and clearly bet on the counterattack without affecting Martino’s men for a defensive transition that continues to show improvements and where the great Sergio Busquets’ job has a lot to do with it.
Controversy came in the 10th minute, as a result of a pressing attack by the locals, first due to a clear handball inside the Charlotte area of no consequence and then due to Harrison Afful’s demolition of Dixon Arroyo, that was taught. .
The Venezuelan Josef Martínez took the responsibility from the eleven meters, despite the fact that the penalty was not his, and changed it completely deceiving the Croatian Kristijan Kahlina. It was his second goal in the Leagues Cup, both from maximum penalties.
From the 20th minute, Charlotte stepped up and the team led by Italian Christian Lattanzio began to be opponents on the ball, getting close to the local area more regularly but not putting Drake Callender in trouble. On the other hand, the arrivals of Inter Miami worried the defense of Charlotte.
So, in a great game in the 32nd minute, the local midfield found the arrival of DeAndre Yedlin on the right with a long pass, who invented a service in the middle of the area where the Finn Robert Taylor completely came alone to place second. It was the fourth goal for him, confirming him as the great revelation of the team since the arrival of Messi. Until then, Taylor had scored just two goals in 19 MLS appearances.
At halftime, the scoreboard reflected what was seen on the pitch. Charlotte’s proposal was very difficult and ineffective, always finding Miami’s small area, where Callender had no problem protecting the ball. Charlotte moved the bench at halftime, bringing on Belgian Brecht Dejaeghere and Ghanaian Patrick Agyemang. They noticed this positively in the attack and thus managed to get their first shot on goal in the 54th minute. Callender solved it under the sticks.
Eight goals in five games
Messi’s first clear chance to score a goal was a long time coming. It was in the 68th minute in a great collective play where he received Taylor’s pass inside the area, but his shot hit a defender and went into a corner.
The third was born from his boots, started the play, pushed the ball into the central aisle and gave it to the left for a Diego Gómez who had just come off the bench. The Paraguayan gave it to Ecuadorian Leonardo Campana, but the ball did not reach him as French defender Adilson Malanda put it in his goal. This is the 1978 sentence.
However, a party at the DRV PNK Stadium is not complete without a goal from Messi and the Argentine did not miss the appointment, scoring the fourth that finished the game in the 86th minute. A good pass from Campana between the defense of visitors found his left foot and this time Spider-Man was the chosen superhero for the celebration.
With this goal, Messi already has eight goals in just five games with Inter Miami. Despite Charlotte’s slight improvement, Inter Miami always had the game under control and managed to try new things and break the established script. So, Jordi Alba can be seen changing bands to act as a winger at a time.
DATA SHEET
4 – Inter Miami: Callender; Yedlin, Kryvtsov, Miller, Alba; Busquets, Arroyo (Ulloa, m.89), Cremaschi (Ruiz, m.72); Messi, Martínez (Campana, m.60) and Taylor (Gómez, m.71)
0 – Charlotte FC: Kahlina; Lindsey, Malanda, Privett, Afful (Cambridge, m.83); Westwood, Bender (Vargas, m.64), Arfield (Agyemang, m.46), Bronico, Józwiak (DeJaegere, m.46); Świderski
the objectives: 1-0, Josef Martínez, from a penalty (m. 12); 2-0, Robert Taylor (d. 32); 3-0, Malanda, own goal (m. 78); 4-0, Leo Messi (d. 86)
Referee: Ismail Elfath (United States). He advised Kamal Miller (m.64) for the locals, and Brecht Dejaeghere (m.63) and Ashley Westwood (m.91) for the visitors
Incidents: Leagues Cup quarterfinal match. The match was played at the DRV PNK Stadium in front of nearly 20,000 spectators
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
