Once again, Argentina’s irreplaceable leader, Lionel Messi proved why he is deemed the ‘GOAT,’ turning an otherwise impossible situation into a masterpiece with a signature moment of match-winning brilliance.
As usual, the pocket dynamite made the difference in a wild, chaotic attacking game that saw Inter Miami trail twice before overcoming FC Cincinnati in an eight goal thriller on Wednesday night.
Interestingly, most football pundits are now in agreement that there are certain fights you just don’t pick, especially when they involved a man whose name is credited with eight Ballon d’Ors, six European Golden Shoes, and eight times listing by FIFA as the world’s best player.
In the North American Major League Soccer (MLS), it has become obvious that most opposition do not want to get dragged into a back-and-forth shootout with Lionel Messi and Inter Miami.
Indeed, whenever the goals rains in any game, Inter Miami are generally the ones who come out on top, and they did it again on Wednesday in an eight-goal thriller with FC Cincinnati. With Messi involved throughout and Miami’s attack rolling, the Herons ran away as 5-3 winners on the road despite going down a goal twice on the night.
In the end, despite their defensive mishaps, Miami’s attack was simply too much. Again, you never want to go blow-for-blow with Messi and his friends.
Miami struck the first blow in the first half when Matt Miazga’s clearance went off Messi and in, but FC Cincinnati responded with two goals of their own, one from Kevin Denkey from the spot and one from Pavel Bucha at the back post.
Messi then leveled the match in the 55th minute, only for Cincinnati’s star South American, Evander, to net a stunner to restore the lead. Messi teed up Mateo Silvetti to level the game, German Berterame then scored what proved to be the winner after a Cincy mistake, and Miami sealed the three points in the 89th minute when Roman Celentano turned the ball into his own net.
In many ways, this match was another vintage Miami. It wasn’t the new and improved version of the team, the one that was seeking and finding balance. No, this was the chaotic and beautiful free-scoring version of the Herons, the one that steps into any stadium in MLS with a plan to outscore the opposition, no matter how many they give up.
Winning like that isn’t always sustainable, but Miami can do it better than most team, and they did not fail on Wednesday night with their captain fantastic shinning like a million stars on the horizon.
