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    • Lionel Messi scores two goals as Miami beat Columbus Crew in MLS action
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    Lionel Messi scores two goals as Miami beat Columbus Crew in MLS action

    Caradoc Wyn Posted on

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    Lionel Messi arrived in Miami almost 15 months ago, in the summer of 2023, but had missed previous matches against the Crew due to injury or international duty. On Saturday evening at the new Crew Stadium, Inter Miami kicked off the most important game of the 2024 MLS regular season.

    “Say hello to my little friend.”

    Messi scored two goals at the end of the first half: in the 45th minuteTh One minute, he chested down an over-the-top pass, weaved through two defenders, found the ping-pong ball and touched it past the goalkeeper; Then, in the fifth and final minute of stoppage time, he received a free kick from 27 yards out, sending it over the wall and into the near (right) post.

    Hello, Leo.

    Inter Miami defeated the Crew 3-2 in a charged atmosphere in front of a sellout crowd of 20,815. It was a high-risk battle of heavyweights. Sublime football coupled with breath-holding penalties, strange acting at times, and did he really just do that? Mistake.

    He will remind us for more than just Messi. For Crew fans, the pain remains. Inter Miami, the 2023 League Cup champions, came to Columbus, home of the 2023 MLS Cup champions and the 2024 League Cup champions, and secured home field advantage for the upcoming playoffs.

    Simply put, Miami won the Supporters’ Shield on the Crew’s home field. Oof.

    The league, as well as Fox Sports and Apple TV, prepared for the coronation. The Supporters’ Shield, the trophy itself, was on the ground and made its way into the visitors’ dressing room. Nobody wanted to wait to present the hardware to their fans at the next home game in Miami on October 19th. The scene of Messi holding the trophy after a game broadcast by two channels was too spicy to pass up.

    “Congratulations, Miami,” crew coach Wilfried Nancy said. “They were consistent and that is the most important thing for me. The Supporters’ Shield is all about consistency and they’ve done that really well.”

    Inter Miami (20-4-8) has two regular season games remaining. The Crew (16-6-9) has three; They are in second place in the East, one point ahead of Cincinnati.

    In other words, the team still has a lot to do before decision day on October 19th – and then there are the playoffs and the defense of their MLS Cup. The blow they took on Wednesday evening did not take the wind out of their sails. They were the better team in the first half before Messi worked his magic. They played with 10 men for the final 30-plus minutes of the second half and still pushed Miami to the limit.

    They simply made too many mistakes and were punished for them.

    “We ended up playing 10 against 11,” Nancy said. “That’s why I like my team. We talk a lot about the brain – yes, the tactical element, the physical element and so on – but tonight was a good example that when we’re ready to go with 10 men, we’re still proactive, we always have been still brave, we were still brave and we were close to coming back and tying the game and maybe, I don’t know, winning the game after that.”

    They simply made too many mistakes and were punished for them.

    Messi’s free kick was awarded after an unnecessary foul by Crew defender Rudy Camacho. It was a tough night for Camacho.

    Messi’s free kick from about 27 yards out went around a wall that may have been misplaced by Crew keeper Patrick Schulte (though Nancy credited Messi’s immortal left foot because “Messi is Messi, as you can see”). Anyway, it was a tough night for Schulte.

    Crew forward Diego Rossi scored 38 seconds into the second half, cutting Miami’s lead in half. Then, 118 seconds later, Camacho backtracked, ran into his own goalie, Schulte, and knocked him over; and Luis Suarez had an open goal for a header. In doing so, Miami regained a two-goal lead.

    A Miami handball in the penalty area resulted in a penalty in the 61st minutest Minute. Cucho Hernandez converted. That made it 3:2. Then, two minutes later, Camacho received his second yellow card of the game and was sent off. It seemed relatively hard. Miami defender Sergio Busquets stuck his studs into Crew fullback Mo Farsi’s thigh, in the area of ​​Farsi’s groin, in the first half, and it was a common foul. It should have been a clear red, but Busquets is Busquets, the most human and intellectual of all the Barca boys. If you watch him, you can see the game, they say. The referee saw a yellow card and it looked like he was going to book Farsi for exposing his groin to Busquets’ studs.

    Anyway, the crew played with 10 men the rest of the way.

    Another Miami handball in the penalty area gave the Crew another PK in the 76th minuteTh Minute. This sent the crowd, which was probably 95% Crew fans (there wasn’t much pink in the stands), into a frenzy. Hernandez tried to repeat his first kick, which was placed inside the left post. This time Miami keeper Drake Callender guessed correctly and made a great save.

    The crew moved on.

    “Even with ten men we still had chances,” said striker Christian Ramirez. Despite everything that went wrong tonight, we were on the right track.”

    The Crew had five shots on goal in the second half, while Miami had four.

    They will carry this spirit forward into the home stretch. You need to clean up a few things.

    As for Messi, he now has 46 titles.

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    Caradoc Wyn
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