Lionel Messi sealed two magnificent goals and Luis Suarez also added a point for the Inter Miami will win 2-3 at Columbus Crew and thus conquer the MLS Supporters’ Shield, the title that is won every year by the best team in the regular season. It should not be confused with the MLS Cup, which is the most prestigious trophy in the United States and Canada and is awarded to the winner of the MLS playoff.
This MLS Supporters’ Shield represents the second title in the brief history of Inter Miami after the Leagues Cup that it won in 2023 a few weeks after the arrival in the US of Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. Now also with Luis Suárez on the squad rounding out the meeting of former FC Barcelona players, this victory also guarantees Inter Miami home field throughout the entire MLS playoff, including a hypothetical final. In addition, a place for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is still up in the air, which corresponds by invitation to the organizing country, in this case the USA. FIFA is in charge of deciding who the place goes to and has not yet announced which one. will be the criterion.
Inter Miami took the Suporters Shield
It was not a walk for the team led by Gerardo Martino since the match in Columbus was explosive, very entertaining and with options until the end for both teams despite the fact that the Crew was left with ten players in the 63rd minute. With 0-2 At half-time and 1-3 as soon as the second half started, the Columbus Crew continued to fight and the Colombian Juan Camilo ‘Cucho’ Hernández had the tying goal with a penalty in the 84th minute. There appeared the other Inter Miami hero tonight: goalkeeper Drake Callender, who stopped the maximum penalty from the coffee striker.
‘Cucho’, also from a penalty, and the Uruguayan Diego Rossi had previously scored the goals for the Columbus Crew. Two goals were scored in the first half that were later disallowed. The first came in the 8th minute in the boots of ‘Cucho’, who fell to the left wing and beat Callender with a fantastic shot. However, the referee annulled the Columbus Crew’s goal due to the Colombian’s advanced position. Subsequently, Inter Miami also saw its goal disallowed when in the 25th minute the referee ruled out a goal by Argentine Marcelo Weigandt also for offside.
Luis Suárez scored with a header against the Crew
The Columbus Crew started better, with sharp pressure and speed to go on the attack. But from midway through the first half, Inter Miami settled down and the match, at times stuck and with some hard fouls, seemed to end in a draw and goalless at halftime. Nothing could be further from the truth. Messi, who had barely appeared in the entire first half, slipped through the Columbus Crew defense in the 45th minute, wonderfully controlled a pass from Jordi Alba with his chest and finished smoothly after cutting off two rivals to make it 0-0. 1. Five minutes later, the magician from Rosario pulled another genius out of his hat and made it 0-2 with a direct free kick, avoiding the home team’s barrier from the outside.
The Columbus Crew returned to the fray after the restart and it only took 25 seconds to score thanks to Rossi, who grabbed a rebound and nailed a perfect threaded shot to the far post. The Ohio team’s joy did not last long since, two minutes later, Suárez scored with a header after a monumental error by goalkeeper Patrick Schulte and defender Rudy Camacho.
That new splash of cold water was not definitive for the Columbus Crew, who continued fighting and scored a penalty practically out of nowhere with a handball from Noah Allen. Cucho made it 2-3 from eleven meters in the 61st minute. However, Wilfried Nancy’s team suffered another very serious setback in the 63rd minute with Camacho being sent off for a double yellow.
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Tireless even with ten and against an Inter Miami that had a hard time keeping the ball and sleeping the game, the Columbus Crew had a golden chance in the 84th minute with another penalty after a handball by Ian Fray. However, ‘Cucho’ ran into Callender and Messi and company’s Inter Miami sealed the MLS Supporterts’ Shield title.
