FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi has reached a milestone. Then, Nashville scored the tying goal to give it a sense of victory.
Messi has won 900th career goalBut Cristian Espinoza’s 74th-minute goal was enough to give Nashville a 1-1 draw with Inter Miami in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16 on Wednesday night.
Both teams tied both games after a 0-0 game in Nashville that started the series last week. A tiebreaker on away goals sent Nashville through to the quarterfinals of the tournament, denying the reigning MLS champions a shot at winning another trophy.
Espinoza scored on a wild play in which he was in the right place at the right time.
Nashville’s Alex Muil took a shot, but it was blocked by sliding Inter Miami defender Gonzalo Luján. The ball bounced off Lujan and carried the ball toward the goalmouth with topspin, and Inter Miami goalkeeper Dane St. Clair scrambled up to punch the ball out.
He didn’t throw his punches very far. St. Clair’s momentum found the back of the net, involving three other Inter Miami defenders, and Espinoza scored an easy goal to tie the game.
This will be Inter Miami’s first match at Fort Lauderdale’s Chase Stadium since last season’s MLS Cup Final, and if all goes to plan, it could be the club’s last at the facility. Messi’s team will not play a home MLS match until April 4, when a new stadium near Miami International Airport is scheduled to open.
And even if this had been the Fort Lauderdale finale, it probably would have felt like a loss, even though it wasn’t a loss.
Argentina superstar Messi scored his 900th career goal in the seventh minute, leading 1-0. He was typical of Messi, making something out of something very small.
When he received a pass with his back to the net about 12 yards from the goalmouth, he was well defended as other players were creating more traffic in front of the goal.
no problem.
On a rainy night in South Florida, he turned and the ball flew across the wet grass with his left foot, and it actually went through the legs of Nashville defender Jason Palacios and over the left arm of diving goaltender Brian Schwake for the first goal.
However, Inter Miami failed to score again, and in the end, Nashville broke through.
Nashville had a golden chance to tie the score in the 67th minute, when Hany Mukhtar broke free in the middle of the field, despite Inter Miami claiming offside and replays suggesting the problem was on the Herons’ side.
Mukhtar played alone against St. Clair, but missed the goal. After a few minutes, all that was forgotten. Messi had one chance in the four minutes of stoppage time, but his shot was blocked and Nashville took the lead shortly after.
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