Desk Report:
Lionel Messi was not finding himself. Inter Miami was also going through a losing streak. Finally, the Argentine star forward got the much-awaited goal. Miami took sweet revenge on the day he returned to form.
Miami lost 3-0 in the Leagues Cup final against Seattle Sounders on September 1. Miami suffered another setback as the wounds of being runners-up did not heal. Charlotte defeated Miami 3-0 in Major League Soccer (MLS) on September 14. Messi failed to score a goal in these two matches. Finally, Messi returned to scoring this morning. Miami took revenge for the 16-day-old defeat against Seattle Sounders.
Inter Miami and Seattle Sounders faced off in MLS at Chase Stadium this morning, Bangladesh time. Miami took the lead in the 12th minute with a goal from Jordi Alba. Messi assisted him to score. Miami took a 2-0 lead before the end of the first half. Messi scored with an assist from Alba in the 41st minute. This was the 880th goal of the Argentine forward’s competitive football career.
Inter Miami quickly scored their third goal in the second half. Miami defender Ian Frey scored in the 52nd minute. He was assisted by Rodrigo de Paul. Miami, who had led by 3 goals in an hour, then conceded a goal. Seattle’s goal was scored in the 69th minute by the team’s midfielder Obed Vargas. He was assisted by Jordan Morris, who came on as a substitute for Osaje de Rosario in the 60th minute.
On September 1, after the final whistle of the Inter Miami-Seattle Sounders Leagues Cup final match, footballers from both teams got into a fight. At one point, Suarez spat at a Sounders official. Then Miami midfielder Sergio Busquets punched Sounders’ Obed Vargas. Another teammate of Messi, Tomas Aviles, also behaved violently. For that spat, Suarez received a six-match Leagues Cup and three-match MLS ban—a total of nine matches across the two tournaments.
Even though Suarez is not there, his friend Messi is there. Today, Miami won 3-1 against Seattle Sounders thanks to Messi’s extraordinary performance. Miami is fifth in the MLS Eastern Conference with 49 points from 27 matches. Philadelphia, who is at the top, has 57 points. They have played 30 matches. Cincinnati, Charlotte and Nashville, who are in second, third and fourth, have 55, 53 and 50 points, respectively. The four teams in the top four of the points table have played 30 matches each.
