Messi, Inter Miami beaten as Nashville level MLS Cup playoffs

Nashville snapped a two-and-a-half-year winless streak against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and forced a decisive Game 3.

An 89th-minute extremity from Lionel Messi was excessively little, excessively precocious arsenic Nashville SC defeated Inter Miami 2-1 connected Saturday to enactment live successful their Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup circular 1 playoff series.

It was Nashville’s archetypal triumph implicit Inter Miami since May 2023, snapping a 10-match winless streak.

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First-half goals from Sam Surridge and Josh Bauer enactment Nashville successful power astatine a rainy Geodis Park successful Tennessee, and the Miami side, led by Argentinian superstar Messi, could not find a mode to respond.

Surridge converted a punishment successful the ninth infinitesimal to enactment the hosts connected top, slotting a debased changeable to the close of diving Miami goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo.

Nashville were awarded the spot footwear aft Rios Novo hesitated coming disconnected his enactment against a charging Surridge.

Bauer enactment Nashville up 2-0 connected the changeable of half-time, sliding successful a left-footed changeable disconnected a country floated successful by Hany Mukhtar.

Miami opened the 2nd fractional successful determined style, but Luis Suarez’s close-range changeable successful the 66th infinitesimal was parried by Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis.

Miami regained power of the ball, but Ian Fray’s speedy effort from wrong the country was blocked.

Messi stepped it up successful the waning minutes, his awkwardly angled changeable from the close successful the 85th infinitesimal blocked, and a blast from the centre of the container saved successful the 86th earlier helium recovered the backmost of the nett successful the 89th.

Rodrigo De Paul recovered Messi astatine the apical close country of the box, and the recently crowned MLS Golden Boot victor wrong-footed his defender and fired a left-footed changeable into the apical close country to chopped the shortage to one.

Miami had seized power of the bid with a 3-1 Game 1 win, fuelled by a Messi brace, but present they volition person to big a decisive 3rd crippled successful Florida connected Saturday.

It is an unwelcome reminder of past year, erstwhile Miami went into the playoffs, having posted the champion grounds successful the regular season, and won their opening crippled against Atlanta United, lone for Atlanta to triumph the adjacent 2 and nonstop them packing.

The victor of the bid volition play either Columbus oregon Cincinnati. Cincinnati instrumentality a 1-0 bid pb into their Game 2 connected Sunday.

Nashville guardant Sam Surridge, left, scores a extremity connected a punishment footwear successful the ninth infinitesimal of Game 2 against Inter Miami goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo [George Walker IV/AP]