After a thrilling 4-4 draw, Inter Miami defeated FC Dallas on penalties to progress past them into the Leagues Cup quarterfinals thanks to two goals from Lionel Messi, including a superb late equaliser.
Messi magical as Miami move past Dallas: Messi’s eighth goal in four games for Miami, a signature curling free-kick in the 85th minute, forced a shootout after the Argentine team trailed 4-2 with 10 minutes remaining.
In Messi’s first game away from home, Dallas exposed Miami’s defensive flaws and largely kept Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets quiet for extended periods of time, but the World Cup winner still made the difference.
Messi’s spectacular goal was praised by Spanish coach Nico Estevez of Dallas. “It’s obvious that for him a free-kick around that area is like a penalty kick for another player,” Estevez remarked.
Dallas had a strong start, but Messi gave Miami the lead in the sixth minute with a deft sidefoot finish off a pull-back from former Barcelona full-back Jordi Alba, who was making his first Miami start.
On review, the referee determined that Miami striker Josef Martinez had not obscured the goalkeeper’s view, overturning the first offside ruling.
Argentine Facundo Quignon, who swung in a cross from overlapping full-back Marco Farfan, gave Dallas a point in the 37th minute.
When Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender was rounding Bernard Kamungo, they took the lead just before halftime.
With a left-footed free kick that sailed unmarked into the far corner in the 63rd minute, another Argentine, Alan Velasco, increased the score to 3-1.
After entering the match as a substitute, teenager Benjamin Cremaschi quickly narrowed the deficit to one goal. However, Robert Taylor’s own goal extended the score to 4-2.
Then, after Messi had chipped a free-kick into the area, Farfan, unopposed, strangely headed into his own goal to keep Miami in the game.
Messi sunk a free kick from 20 yards five minutes from the game’s conclusion, sending it to penalties.
The Leagues Cup, a competition between clubs from Major League Soccer and Liga MX in Mexico, does not utilize extra time. Rather, tied games are resolved through penalties.
Dallas’ Paxton Pomykal missed the opening penalty kick in the shootout, which was Messi’s conversion. The 18-year-old Cremaschi then clinched Miami’s spot in the round of eight with the final penalty kick.
“It’s amazing what (Messi) can do,” remarked Cremaschi, an Argentinean-born Miami native.
“It’s really impressive that he scored twice in almost every game.”
Prior to Messi joining the team, Miami had gone 11 games without a victory in Major League Soccer, but they had won each match since he and Busquets joined.
Especially with the great players we have, Cremaschi remarked, “you can see our mentality, how things have changed in this club, and how we were willing to fight until the very end.”
We are aware that we have the ability to bounce back from a significant deficit quickly.
Messi’s brilliance and the outcome, according to Argentine coach Gerardo Martino of Miami, shouldn’t hide his team’s obvious flaws.
The outcome obviously pleases us after we came back from being 4-2 down in the 80th minute.
But despite what we’ve been through, we shouldn’t lose sight of the things we still need to do to become better.