Lionel Messi and Inter Miami have advanced to the Champions Cup semis. Photograph: Rich Storry/Getty Images
Lionel Messi and Inter Miami are through to the semi-finals of the Concacaf Champions Cup after a wild, come-from-behind 3-1 victory over Los Angeles FC at Chase Stadium in For Lauderdale, Florida.
Messi himself buried the decisive goal from the penalty spot in the 84th minute while LAFC missed a raft of chances late on to either put the two-legged series beyond doubt or snatch what would have been a shocking late victory.
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The second leg of the sides’ quarterfinal boiled with intensity throughout the match, with LAFC’s Aaron Long surprisingly opening the scoring after just 10 minutes on a recycled set piece to put Miami behind 2-0 on aggregate with LA holding the advantage on away goals.
Related: MLS talking points: How Vancouver became elite and no rest for Leo Messi
From there, the mountain Messi and Co. had to climb was high, and full of the types of treacherous, flat-out wacky moments that befit a high-profile matchup in the always-unpredictable Champions Cup. For Messi and Miami, the intensity of the second leg might have surpassed any individual game they dealt with in last year’s campaign that ended at this stage in Monterrey – a feeling that was evident from the jubilant, emotive celebrations at the final whistle from all the players, head coach Javier Mascherano, team staff, and owners David Beckham and Jorge and José Mas.
Mascherano’s team created much of the chaos in which they thrived. The first major moment of this came when Miami was awarded a freekick 30 yards out thanks to a Ryan Hollingshead foul that merited a yellow card in the 30th minute. With the LAFC defense still getting set, Messi took the freekick quickly and ran off the celebrate the surprise goal, much to LAFC’s dismay. The referee called the goal back, though, enraging Inter Miami even though he had correctly ruled that because a yellow card had been issued, the whistle must be blown before the freekick is taken.
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Soon enough, Messi had a goal that was beyond doubt. The Argentine superstar latched on to a slightly deflected through ball in a maze of opposition defenders, then chose exactly the right moment to launch a shot through the players in front of him and past Hugo Lloris in goal to even the score on the night.
Miami still needed two more. The second of those came in the 61st minute in even more chaotic circumstances, as officials ignored two possible fouls in the buildup to a looping ball in the box from Federico Redondo, with defender Noah Allen ghosting in ahead of the onrushing Lloris to get a slight touch of the ball with his head, sending it looping over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
Miami thought it had the winner when Luis Suarez finished a headed chance at the far post, but it was ruled out due to an incredibly narrow offisde call. Miami players pleaded their case for that and any number of other perceived injustices throughout, with LAFC returning the favor when they weren’t trying in vain to keep Miami, and the match, under control.
Eventually, the game’s defining moment coming purely due to a mistake by an LAFC defender. Marlon who was not under pressure by a Miami player and was not trying to make a play on the ball when Long headed a wide service straight up in the air. But in that awkward moment, Marlon still somehow allowed the ball to hit his arm as Lloris was rushing out to claim it, and as Long tried in vain to get out of the way.
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With the penalty awarded, Miami’s choice of taker was obvious, setting up a Messi v Lloris spot kick just like in the 2022 World Cup final. Once again, Messi came out on top.
LAFC had chances thereafter, with Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari coming up with a few huge saves to preserve the South Florida side’s narrow advantage. Perhaps the biggest of these came in stoppage time, with Ustari stopping an effort from LAFC star Denis Bouanga on a breakway.
The closing stages features hard tackles, hard fouls, and hard celebrations on the final whistle for Miami, who will now advance to play either Vancouver Whitecaps or Pumas in the semi-final.
