Lionel Messiwith a double and an assist for Sergio Busquetsthey gave this Saturday to Inter Miami a 3-1 win at home against Nashville and they briefly made Argentine Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino’s team the leader of the East. Messi celebrated his sixth and seventh goals of this MLS season, in six games played, and Busquets scored with a header, after a corner kick from the Argentine, his first goal in an Inter Miami shirt.
‘Tata’ Martino’s side started to lose the game when they conceded an own goal from Argentine Franco Negri after two minutes, but they recovered with a good reaction. Uruguayan Luis Suárez provided Messi with the assist for the tie. Inter Miami is the leader of the East with 18 points, pending the result of the New York Red Bulls in their visit to Los Angeles FC.
Inter Miami overcame the worst possible start, conceding a 0-1 goal after two minutes with an own goal by Franco Negri, who deflected the ball from a corner kick and surprised his goalkeeper Drake Callender. But the reaction of Martino’s team was almost immediate.
Luis Suárez is also the star
In the eleventh minute, Messi scored the tying goal after finishing a pass from Luis Suárez inside the area. The Argentine created the danger by breaking free and facing a great save from Panicco. The rebound of the goal reached Pistolero, who offered Messi a comfortable ball to make it 1-1.
The match opened up and there was no shortage of opportunities on both sides of the court. Messi grabbed the second with a shot inside the area that hit a post, while Avilés saved Nashville’s potential goal between the sticks.
Inter Miami came to the rescue and struck five minutes before the break with a Messi-Busquets combination. The Argentine put in a cross from a corner kick and the Spaniard attacked the first post and hit a header to make the score 2-1. He ran to hug Messi to celebrate his first Inter Miami goal. Despite the advantage, Inter Miami went into the break with a bitter taste, due to a serious knee injury apparently suffered by Gómez, who left on a stretcher crying.
Nashville tried, but Inter Miami knew how to defend its advantage and, in the 81st minute, Afonso, the very man who replaced Gómez, took the maximum penalty which Messi converted with a powerful cross shot to make it 3-1. The Argentine has seven goals in MLS and two in three games in the Concacaf Champions League. Busquets scored his first goal since May 1, 2022, when he scored for Barcelona against Mallorca.
DATA SHEET
3 – InterMiami: Callender: Weygandt, Avilés, Freire, Negri; Busquets, Gressell (Bright, m.74), Ruiz; Gómez (Afonso, m.41), Messi, Suárez (Cremaschi, m.87).
1 – Nashville: Panicco; Bauer, MacNaughton (Maher, d.71), Lovitz; Shaffelburg, Davis (Anunga, m.77), Godoy (Leal, m.90), Yearwood (Sejdic, m.76), Muyl; Mukhtar, Surridge.
The objectives: 0-1, Negri (m. 2, pp); 1-1, Messi (m. 11); 2-1, Busquets (m. 39); 3-1, Messi (m. 81, penalty).
Referee: Ismail Elfath (USA). He showed yellow cards to Ruiz (m.27), Weygandt (m.40), from Inter Miami, and MacNaughton (m.50), from Nashville.
Incidents: Match corresponding to MLS matchday ten played at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale (USA) in front of nearly 21,000 spectators.
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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.
