Tag: Lionel Messi MLS

Inter Miami shrugged off an injury concern to Lionel Messi to boost their Major League Soccer playoff hopes with a 4-0 thrashing of Toronto FC on Wednesday.

Messi returned to the starting line-up after skipping Saturday’s 5-2 defeat at Atlanta due to muscle fatigue but left the field in the 38th minute looking uncomfortable.

His former Barcelona team-mate, Spaniard Jordi Alba who had also sat out the trip to Atlanta, also limped off three minutes earlier in the game.

Inter Miami coach Gerardo Martino said the pair are now ruled out for Sunday’s Florida derby with Orlando City and was uncertain about their involvement in next week’s US Open Cup final.

“We have to go day by day, see the doctor’s report, what they tell us and we will decide. Obviously, there is no ‘chance’ that they will be there on Sunday,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s anything new or bigger than what they had been having. It’s just fatigue, I don’t think there is a muscular injury,” he said, defending the decision to play them.

“Everything was in place for the players to play … There is no possibility (that they were pressured to play). If we made them play it was because they were fit to play.”

“After talking to them, I don’t have the same pessimism I had when I had to take them out,” he said.

Despite the blow of losing their star and one of their most influential players, Inter Miami swept aside the Eastern Conference’s bottom club with ease, Messi’s replacement Robert Taylor scoring twice after coming on.

Facundo Farias opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time with a blistering volley after Toronto keeper Tomas Romero had meekly palmed out a Noah Allen cross.

Taylor then made it 2-0 in the 54th minute with an outstanding individual strike, dribbling across the box from the left before unleashing a sharply angled drive back into the bottom corner.

Taylor then turned provider, releasing another substitute Benjamin Cremaschi who fired through the legs of Romero to make it 3-0.

Finland international Taylor completed his impactful performance with the fourth, bringing down a floated pass over the top from Farias and blasting home from close range.

Inter Miami moved up to 13th in the Eastern Conference and are now just five points off Wayne Rooney’s D.C. United who occupy ninth spot, the final playoff position. Inter Miami have two games in hand.

D.C United were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Atlanta while other results were also favourable for Inter Miami.

Charlotte, who Inter Miami have to play twice, are now just two points ahead of the Florida side after they let a two-goal lead slip in a 2-2 draw at home to Philadelphia, conceding a stoppage-time penalty which was converted by Daniel Gazdag. The draw guaranteed Philadelphia a place in the playoffs.

The Columbus Crew also secured their place in the playoffs beating the Chicago Fire 3-0 with Colombian Cucho Hernandez scoring all three inside 23 minutes — the second fastest hattrick from the start in MLS history.

Tenth-placed New York City kept their playoff hopes alive with a 2-0 win at home to second-placed Orlando City. Despite the defeat, Orlando are now sure of a place in the post-season.

Eastern Conference leaders Cincinnati needed a goal deep in stoppage time from Argentina Luciano Acosta to earn a point at eighth-placed Montreal.

In the Western Conference, leaders St.Louis City were held to a 0-0 draw at home to champions Los Angeles FC but it was still enough to clinch their postseason berth.

The Seattle Sounders moved above LAFC by a point thanks to their 2-1 win at Colorado thanks to a fine strike from Leo Chu and a powerful header from Albert Rusnak.

English striker Billy Sharp scored a hat-trick for Los Angeles Galaxy as they came back from 3-1 down to beat Minnesota United 4-3.

The 37-year-old former Sheffield United forward now has six goals from his opening six games in MLS.

Sharp completed his hat-trick in the 71st minute and moments later Minnesota had English defender Ethan Bristow dismissed for a second yellow card. Diego Fagundez grabbed the winner for the Galaxy in the 82nd minute.

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Inter Miami delivered the most impressive win of their Lionel Messi era, 3-1 over Major League Soccer champions Los Angeles FC on Sunday, with two assists from the Argentine boosting their playoff hopes.

Goals from Argentine forward Facundo Farias, Spanish full-back Jordi Alba and substitute Leonardo Campana of Ecuador earned Miami a statement victory that moves them within nine points of the playoff places with nine games remaining.

Messi’s first MLS appearance in Los Angeles, attracted a capacity crowd, swollen by a host of A-List celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio, Selena Gomez and Prince Harry.

But the home fans left frustrated as last year’s MLS Cup winners wasted a series of chances.

French-born Gabon international Denis Bouanga had the first opportunity, bursting goalwards but with Mexican Carlos Vela unmarked to his right, unwisely chose to shoot and his effort was blocked — to the fury of his teammate.

Bouanga had another great chance in the 11th minute after a fine through ball from former Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini but Miami keeper Drake Callender pulled off an excellent save.

After surviving those early scares, Miami took the lead in the 14th minute when Tomas Aviles split the LAFC defence to find Farias who beat John McCarthy with a low shot on the slide.

Miami struggled to contain Bouanga but the LA forward was again unable to make the most of his opportunity when he burst through the middle but fired wide.

Mario Gonzalez should have done better when he was given space for a shot but blasted into the side-netting as Miami were increasingly threatening on the counter.

Paraguay midfielder Diego Gomez broke forward and played a clever back-heel to Messi but the Argentine’s shot was weak and easily dealt with by McCarthy.

Before the interval, Messi had his best chance of the game, again set up by the outstanding Gomez, but a one-on-one with McCarthy, Messi saw his lofted shot pushed away by the LAFC keeper.

LAFC paid the price for the wastefulness in front of goal in the 51st minute when Miami’s former Barcelona trio combined in style.

Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets fed Messi who picked out the overlapping Alba and he burst into the box to score with a cool, left-footed finish.

Miami were in firm control and wrapped up the win in the 83rd minute when Messi burst from midfield and slipped the ball outside to Campana who made no mistake with a curling finish.

“You know what Leo is, what he can give on the pitch. He gets the best (out) of everyone,” said a beaming Campana.

“Right now, the goal is to achieve the playoffs and I hope we can do it to give happiness to the people of Miami,” added the striker.

LA got a 90th-minute consolation via Ryan Hollingshead’s glancing header from a corner and while the third-placed team in the Western Conference should have little trouble making the playoffs, they had been given a lesson in finishing.

Miami were bottom of the East and winless in 11 games in MLS before Messi’s arrival and after winning the Leagues Cup, the Florida club have won two and drawn one in regular season action.

“It was a nice test for us to see where we stood, what we were able to do on a difficult ground against a very good opponent, the winners last year and we earned a very important victory for what is coming,” Messi told broadcasters Apple TV.

“This group grows more every day, we have been saying it since the beginning of all this. We were lucky to get a tournament and get into a final and now the goal is to get into the playoffs and fight for the league,” he added.

“I feel good physically. Thank God I can continue playing and help the team in whatever way I can and hopefully we continue in this dynamic,” he added.

In Sunday’s other game, last year’s runners-up, the Philadelphia Union, beat the New York Red Bulls 4-1 to keep their playoff hopes on track.

The score was 1-1 when Red Bulls’ Sean Nealis was sent off after handling the ball and picking up a second yellow card.

Philadelphia took full advantage of the extra man after the break with goals from Jamaican Damion Lowe, Argentina’s Julian Carranza and Hungarian Daniel Gazdag.

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MIAMI: FC Cincinnati led the way into the Major League Soccer (MLS) playoffs on Wednesday as the slim post-season hopes of Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami took a hit with a goalless draw against Nashville.

Second-half goals from Luciano Acosta and Brandon Vazquez lifted Cincinnati to a 2-1 victory at Atlanta, where Colombian Edwin Mosquera’s first MLS goal had put the hosts ahead in the 10th minute.

The victory was Cincinnati’s first at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and took the Eastern Conference leaders to 57 points and the first berth in the MLS Cup playoffs with eight matches remaining in the regular season.

Miami, meanwhile, made little headway in their unlikely bid to make the playoffs as they were held scoreless for the first time in the 10 games of the Messi era.

The Argentine star had scored 11 goals in nine appearances since joining Inter Miami — including their run to the Leagues Cup crown, in a US Open Cup semi-final and in his regular-season debut off the bench in New York on Saturday.

The workload may have finally caught up with him on Wednesday as he was unable to work the magic again in front of another star-studded crowd at a blustery DRV PNK Stadium, where boxing great Floyd Mayweather and FIFA chief Gianni Infantino were among the spectators.

The draw left Inter Miami 10 points out of the final playoff spot with 10 games remaining

They travel across the country to take on MLS Cup champions Los Angeles FC on Sunday.

Messi and former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets both started the game after coming off the bench in the 60th minute in New York.

Despite controlling possession throughout a frustrating first half, Miami struggled to create real chances against Nashville’s disciplined defense.

Miami fans were on the edge of their seats after Messi drew a foul on Nashville’s Dax McCarty in the 60th minute and stepped up to take a free kick, but his effort to the bottom left corner was gathered in by Nashville goalkeeper Elliot Panicco.

Nashville’s Hany Mukhtar had a goal erased by an offside call in the 69th minute.

Messi had another free kick from a dangerous position in the 83rd minute but his shot caromed harmlessly off the wall of defenders.

Miami looked to have one last chance deep in injury time when Messi received a ball from Busquets and dribbled past two defenders, but his low right-footed shot was saved.

“What we have to do is move on,” said Miami coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino.

“This can happen. It is true that we were a bit unaccustomed to this. The titles, the final, with a league game won the other day in New York, but we must move forward. There are still many things left to say.”

In Atlanta, Mosquera blasted home a deflected cross to put the hosts up early.

Acosta levelled the score with his 13th goal of the season in the 75th minute, splitting two defenders and playing a pass to Junior Moreno, who headed the ball down to Acosta who beat Atlanta keeper Brad Guzan with a one-time shot into the top corner.

Five minutes later Acosta collected the ball in midfield and sent it out to Alvaro Barreal on the left wing. Barreal’s cross found Vazquez, whose fifth goal of the season sealed Cincinnati’s 17th victory.

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After the high-octane excitement of their successful Leagues Cup campaign and the thrill of their comeback victory in the US Open Cup semi-final, Inter Miami and Lionel Messi get down to the main job at hand on Saturday.

The Major League Soccer regular season returns in full with Miami, who travel to the New York Red Bulls, faced with the tough task of climbing from bottom place in the Eastern Conference and into the playoff positions.

Prior to the break for Leagues Cup — and Messi’s arrival along with Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba — Miami were winless in 11 games in MLS with the worst record in the entire league.

In most leagues in the world, a team in that position would be focused purely on avoiding relegation from the top flight.

But MLS has no relegation and instead has a playoff system which could yet offer a way for the new-look Miami, under Argentine coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino, to compete for the title — MLS Cup.

The top nine finishers in each conference earn a spot in the playoffs with the top seven going into the first round, best of three series of games.

The eighth and ninth placed teams play each other in a single elimination ‘wild card’ match to get into the first round.

Miami are currently 14 points behind ninth place with 12 games left and so have little room for error in the remainder of the season.

But the form they have shown since the arrival of Messi and his two former Barcelona team-mates, unbeaten in eight games, albeit winning three of their knockout ties via penalties, suggests such a playoff push is not out of the question.

It will be a long slog to turn Inter’s MLS season around and adding to the difficulty of the task, Martino admitted after Wednesday’s shoot-out win over Cincinnati in the US Open Cup, that his star man was amongst those feeling the pace of their recent exertions.

“Both Leo and many other players are reaching an important physical limit and from today we will evaluate how we approach the next three matches,” he said.

“The fatigue is overcome with all the enthusiasm … I hope the team in the future could play better, but it’s very difficult to do that when you almost can’t rest,” he added.

It would not be a shock then, for one or more of Messi, Busquets and Alba, to start on the bench at Red Bull Arena on Saturday with Martino retaining the option to throw them on in the second half.

The Red Bulls are in 11th place in the East, 11 points ahead of Miami, and have their own hopes of clambering into the post-season.

Saturday’s games see Eastern Conference leaders Cincinnati host 2021 champions New York City, while in the West, top-placed St.Louis City, enjoying a dream first season in the league, are at Orlando City.

Defending champions Los Angeles FC travel to North Carolina to face Charlotte FC.

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David Beckham believes Lionel Messi will need time to adapt to Major League Soccer (MLS), even though the standard of play is at a “different level” from the European game.

Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder, watched Inter Messi take part in his first training session for the club on Tuesday after signing a two-and-a-half-year contract.

Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets, a former team-mate of Messi’s from Barcelona, also trained at the club’s complex, after signing on Saturday, with former Barcelona and Argentina coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino leading the session.

“Leo’s still going to need, no matter how good he is, no matter what his stature is, he and Sergio are going to need time to adapt no matter,” said the Englishman.

“They might surprise us, we might start winning every single game, but we have to be patient,” he said.

Miami’s fans may need to show that patience at Friday’s Leagues Cup game against Mexicans Cruz Azul, with Beckham saying the Argentine may not necessarily start.

“Leo will play some part of the game but that will be down to the coach (and) it’ll be down to Leo to decide if he’s ready because we know that he’s been away for a few weeks with his family but he looks sharp, he looks great but he’s going to need time to adapt as well,” said Beckham.

David Beckham was the biggest name to have moved to MLS when he signed for the Galaxy in 2007 when the league had just 13 clubs, compared to 29 today and the standard of play was significantly lower.

But Beckham said that there was one area where nothing had changed.

“One of the similarities will be, when I came, all of a sudden, everyone thought: LA are going to win everything. LA are going to win every game, 7-0, 8-0, and that’s it, nobody else is gonna win anything,” he said.

But despite Beckham’s arrival, the Galaxy weren’t even able to make the playoffs in his first two seasons.

LA finished next to bottom of the Western Conference in 2007 and 2008 but then in 2009 were beaten finalists before winning MLS Cup in 2011 and 2012.

“Those first two years for me, it was a challenge, getting used to everything, bringing the club and the league to be a little bit more professional, but things changed very quickly,” he said.

“I started enjoying the soccer a lot more, not just because we were winning (but) because I could see the change that was being made — the academy stuff coming into each of the clubs… we’re now at a stage where things are definitely different to how they were in 2007,” he said.

While the standard of MLS is still well below that of the top leagues in Europe, where Lionel Messi has spent his entire club career, several foreign players who joined the league late in their career have found it difficult to thrive.

The frequent travel across time-zones, playing on artificial surfaces at some stadiums, and having team-mates who might not be on the same wavelength or have the expected technical ability, are some of the challenges players have faced.

David Beckham has no doubt that Lionel Messi will be a success but accepts his impact on the field might not be as instant as some may be anticipating.

“It’s a different style of football, it’s  a slightly different level to what obviously some of the players that are coming in are used to,” he said.

“But at the end of the day, this level of football in this country now is a good level, it’s a great level, so there are going to be moments where we have to be patient,” he said.

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