A double straight away: Messi shoots his Club World Cup frustration out of his soul
Inter Miami offered a fitting response to their crushing round of 16 exit at the Club World Cup in the MLS. Although Messi and Co. also got off to a bad start in Montreal.
Tight ball control: Lionel Messi drives his opponents behind him. IMAGO/ZUMA Press
Inter Miami's Club World Cup adventure came to an abrupt end last Sunday: The MLS representative lost 4-0 to Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain. In his first career clash with a former club, Messi was also unable to make a difference.
This made it all the more important for the world champions to make their return to MLS life a success. The schedule called for an away game against the bottom team in the Eastern Conference. Montreal as a rebuilding opponent? It didn't look like that at all at first, and Miami got off to a bad start.
Already in the second minute of the game, it was Messi of all people who made a major mistake: The Inter captain wanted to play the ball back to his central defenders, but found former Regensburg player Owusu, who coolly shot in front of Ustari and even tunneled him.
Miami immediately looked for a response, but Jordi Alba hit the right post after a quarter of an hour (15'). The number of top chances increased, and in the 33rd minute, it finally happened: Messi passed to Allende, who effortlessly fired a shot into the bottom right corner with his left foot from outside the penalty area.
But that wasn't enough, Messi himself turned things around before halftime. After a header from his friend Suarez, the Argentinian dribbled and slotted the ball into the left corner (40').
Owusu annoys Miami - but then Segovia conjures up magicEven after the break, the favorites endeavored to quickly establish a clear lead. Initially, however, Owusu repeatedly embarrassed the visitors' shaky defense. The equalizer, however, never came. Instead, Miami scored their third goal – and what a goal it was: After a pass from Allende, Segovia brilliantly curled the ball onto the underside of the crossbar (60').
Two minutes later, the game was sealed when Suarez again found Messi. The Argentinian then launched a long dribble, was unstoppable, and scored the final goal to make it 4-1 (62').
Miami's first MLS appearance after more than a month off due to the Club World Cup could be considered a success. "It's never easy to get back into the swing of things in the league after the Club World Cup, and the players handled it perfectly," praised coach Javier Mascherano. "It was a great night. We got the three points we desperately needed."
Miami is now sixth in the East with 32 points from 17 games, thanks in part to the form of Messi, who has scored seven goals in his last four games and now has 12 goals in total.
