Messi keeps scoring Inter Miami is in the final
Lionel Messi continues to scores to the Inter Miami team. The Argentinian star scored one of the goals in the 4-1 win over Philadelphia Union in the League Cup semi-final clash and now has 9 goals since joining the squad. Messi did not fail to score in any of his six matches for Inter Miami, and in half of them he scored two goals.
The meeting with Philadelphia will also be remembered for the debut goal of Jordi Alba, who was accurate at the end of the half, which ended 3:0 in favor of Inter Miami. Before that, Josef Martinez opened the scoring in the 3rd minute, and Messi doubled the lead of the team from Florida. In the second half, Alejandro Bedoya reduced and the reserve David Ruiz decided everything in favor of Inter Miami.
Martinez's early goal proved to be key because it allowed the Herons to play entirely on the counter-attack. In the first half, Gerardo Martino's side had three shots and each of them was a goal. In the 20th minute, Messi received the ball from Martinez and surprised Philadelphia guard Andre Blake with a long shot. Seconds before the break, Robert Taylor brought Alba on, he advanced down the left flank and calmly slotted the ball into the net.
Philadelphia's efforts led only to veteran Bedoya scoring in the 75th minute, but in the 84th, Ruiz capitalized on an assist from DeAndre Yedlin to set up Inter Miami's convincing win. "You can see during the matches that Leo is much calmer and happier," commented Inter Miami coach Gerardo Martino.
Although he has only been at the club for a few weeks, Messi has already displaced Robert Taylor from third place in the ranking of the best goalscorers of the "Herons". Only Gonzalo Higuain, who has 29 goals for the team, and Leonardo Campana, with 16, are ahead of him. Inter Miami will face Nashville, who beat Monterrey 2-0 in the other semi-final, in contention for the trophy. It will be the first final for the team, which before the arrival of Messi had not won in 11 consecutive MLS games, and then recorded 6 consecutive victories in the League Cup. With today's success, Inter Miami also secured participation in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
