Lionel Messi And inter miami Along with the lead on home ground, another trophy has been achieved Major League Soccer Playoffs.
Messi scored twice in the last minutes of the first half, goalkeeper drake callender stopped a penalty kick In the 84th minute and Inter Miami defeated the defending MLS Cup champions columbus crew 3–2 on Wednesday night, concluding the Supporters’ Shield, awarded annually to the team with the best regular season record.
It was Messi’s 46th major trophy won for club or country, extending his record for the most trophies won by any male footballer in history. And it is his second win with Inter Miami, this Supporters’ Shield being added to the League Cup trophy that the Herons claimed soon after Messi joined the club in 2023.
“We knew this was a group that could fight for it,” Messi said.
Luis Suarez Also scored for Inter Miami, which will open a best-of-three first-round playoff series on the last weekend of October. If the team wins that series, it will have the right to host every match played in the remainder of the season – an Eastern Conference Semifinal (scheduled for November 23 or 24), the East Final (November 30 or December 1) and the MLS Cup Final. On 7 December.
“We have a good chance to go down in history… and now we think about what’s going to happen,” Messi told Apple TV after the match. “We have a big advantage in that we play all the games at home, which is what we were looking for. I think we are very, very strong at home.”
Also still within reach for Inter Miami: the best MLS regular-season mark ever. Wednesday’s win moved Inter Miami’s record to 20-4-8 this season, giving it 68 points. If the club wins its final two games — at Toronto on Saturday and at home against New England on Oct. 19 — it will finish with 74 points.
New England holds the single-season points record, finishing with 73 in 2021.
Messi started the scoring Taking a long pass in the 45th minute Jordi Alba – his long time partner barcelonaThe club with which Messi won his 35 trophies – and split two defenders before somehow getting the ball past the Columbus goalkeeper patrick schulte For a 1-0 lead.
and about five minutes of first-half stoppage time, Messi strikes again On a free kick from about 30 yards. Schulte looked foolish, and Messi headed the ball between the goalkeeper and the near post to make it 2–0.
“Major,” said Inter Miami coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino.
Diego Rossi scored for Columbus in the first minute of the second half to cut the lead in half, but it did not take long for Inter Miami to take a two-goal lead. Almost immediately after play resumed, Schulte was fouled by one of his own defenders Suarez sent a header into the empty net. For a 3-1 lead.
Juan “Cucho” Hernandez’s penalty kick in the 61st minute put Columbus ahead 3–2. But once again this momentum did not last long. Rudy Camacho was sent off in the 63rd minute for his second yellow card, meaning the Crew would have to play with 10 players for the rest of the time.
It didn’t matter. Columbus still created some big chances.
In the 76th minute a deflected ball crossed the box and onto the right foot of Mohammed Farsi – but his shot was blocked by Callender, who was perfectly positioned to protect the lead.
More drama followed when Inter Miami was called for its second handball of the second half inside the box – an automatic penalty kick. Hernandez picked out the ball on the left side of the net, but Callender made the save almost look easy.
That save helped Messi finish what he had started.
It was the fifth two-goal game of the MLS season for Messi, who now has 17 goals in 17 league games this season. He missed 15 of Inter Miami’s MLS matches in 2024, either due to commitments to the Argentina national team or due to the two-month absence he required to recover from a badly injured ankle – a Injury This happened during his country’s run to the Copa America title in July.
Inter Miami is now 10-1-6 with Messi in MLS games this season.
“We had a lot of injuries throughout the year where we couldn’t all be together… but the group was getting the most out of every difficult game,” Messi said.
The Crew and LA Galaxy entered Wednesday with a mathematical hope of surpassing Inter Miami in the Supporters’ Shield race, and Cincinnati was nine points behind with nine points still possible.
But now, they are all playing for second place.
“We want December 7,” Martino said, referring to the date of the MLS Cup final. “But it’s not unimportant today.”
Columbus vs Inter Miami CF Highlights | mls on fox
Reporting by the Associated Press.
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