Tag: Messi Miami

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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