He Inter Miami of Lionel Messi this Friday surpassed nashville 3-1 with a double from the Argentine star and a goal from his compatriot Tadeo Allende. Prior to the match against Nashville at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Messi stood before a silent stadium at his feet and received the golden boot, the award for the top scorer in MLS, for 29 goals and 19 assists. Left back Jordi Alba, who recently announced his retirement from football at the end of the season, appeared accompanied by his three children Piero, Bruna and Ventura.
Inter Miami arrived at the first game of the playoffs after having positioned itself third in the Eastern Conference standings of the MLS regular season, and having won the last games, despite the accumulated effort of several weeks with many commitments.
Luis Suárez, in a match against Nashville
During the first half, Messi amazed the fans with long runs, the day after Inter Miami announced its renewal until 2028, and in the 18th minute he scored 1-0 with a stellar header from the center of the area, after the Uruguayan Luis Suárez left the ball on a plate for him. In the 31st minute, Ian Fray finished off an assist from Messi after taking a free kick, which passed very close to the right post, but the ball ended up deflecting.
Sergio Busquets was reprimanded
Nashville woke up almost at halftime, when Bryan Acosta finished in the 46th minute from outside the area, but missed. Seconds later, his teammate Sam Surridge finished off a header from Jacob Schaffelburg from the left inside the area, but the ball went high to the left and the curtain fell on the first half.
After the break, Sergio Busquets received a yellow card for dangerous play in the 53rd minute, and two minutes later De Paul and Surridge received two more yellow cards. In the 61st minute, after a foul by Maxi Falcón in the defensive zone, Ian Fray crossed into the area, from where Teo Allende finished with a header and made it 2-0 for Inter Miami.
TECHNICAL SHEET
3 – InterMiami: Rocco Novo Rios Ian Fray (Gonzalo Luján, m.88), Noah Allen, Maxi Falcón, Jordi Alba, Teo Allende (Mateo Silvetti, m.76), Sergio Busquets, Rodrigo De Paul (Yannick Bright, m.88), Baltasar Rodriguez (Telasco Segovia, m.69), Leo Messi and Luis Suárez.
1 – Nashville: Joe Willis; Andy Najar (Josh Bauer, m.85), Walker Zimmerman, Jeison Palacios, Daniel Lovitz (Tate Schmitt, m.85), Bryan Acosta (Matthew Corcoran, m.68), Edvard Tagseth, Patrick Yazbek (Gastón Brugman, m.68), Hany Mukhtar, Sam Surridge, Jacob Shaffelburg (Alex Muyl, d.73).
Goals: 1-0, Messi (m. 18); 2-0, Teo Allende (m. 61); 3-0, Messi (m. 90+6); 3-1, Hany Mukhtar (m. 90+11)
Referee: Filip Dujic, from Canada.
Incidents: First round match of the MLS playoffs played at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale (Florida).
The Garzas of Argentine coach Javier Mascherano did not settle and fought for the third goal, which Messi scored in the second half’s added time, after a left-footed shot from near the center of the goal. After a failed attempt by Surridge with just over a minute left in the game, Hany Mukhtar scored for Nashville with a goal from a free kick. Inter Miami won the first game of a best-of-three series, in which Las Garzas have home field advantage.
