QUEENS, NY — Lionel Messi has finally scored against New York City FC (NYCFC) after bagging a brace as Inter Miami romped to a 4-0 victory at Citi Field on Wednesday night.
NYCFC came into the fixture as one of the form teams in the MLS after impressive home victories over Columbus and Charlotte, but they were no match for Messi and Co. on a sodden night in Queens.
A packed house full to the brim with the pink of Inter Miami looked on as Messi scored twice and assisted once in a performance that rolled back the years.
The hosts were actually competitive for large parts of the first half in a game where they often felt like the away team such was the strength of the Miami support, with Nico Fernandez spurning a glorious opportunity on the half-hour mark. However, they were undone by a moment of Messi magic on the stroke of half time when the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner teed up Baltasar Rodríguez for the opener.
Messi then exploded into life in a 12-minute spell late in the second half, producing two sublime efforts either side of a Luis Suarez penalty to put the result beyond any doubt as the NYCFC challenge suffered a total collapse.
The result sees Inter Miami leapfrog NYCFC in the Eastern Conference, with Pascal Jansen’s side falling to fifth with three games of the regular season remaining.
Jansen bemoaned his side’s lack of a clinical edge, pointing to a number of missed opportunities when the game was still in the balance in the first half.
“You have to be very clinical in the finishing moments because the quality of the opposition is that high,” Jansen said.
The NYCFC head coach admitted that his side’s intensity dropped in the second half, allowing Inter Miami – and Messi – to take total control of the contest.
“(We were) punished severely,” Jansen said. That’s the quality of Miami because in the moments of transition, they’re so fast and they show good quality, and (they) punished us for those moments.”
Messi was hardly involved in an even first half as NYCFC effectively suffocated the Argentine maestro, restricting him to a 12th-minute shot from distance that deflected wide of the post.
Messi found Luis Suarez in acres of space in the NYCFC six-yard box from the resulting corner, but Suarez completely mistimed the header and the chance went abegging.
NYCFC, playing without a recognized striker, took control thereafter and should have hit the front on 21 minutes when Thiago Martins planted a free header straight at Oscar Ustari from just five yards out.
The hosts spurned an even better opportunity eight minutes later when Fernandez raced onto a through ball and dummied past the despairing lunge of Maximiliano Falcon. With the goal at his mercy, however, Fernandez sent his effort off the outside of the post despite sending Ustari the wrong way.
An interchanging forward line of Fernandez, Hannes Wolf and Agustin Ojeda caused plenty of problems for Miami with a number of runs in behind that stretched a relatively immobile defense playing an incredibly high line. The final pass was often lacking, however, and the hosts failed to take advantage of the chasm of space offered to them throughout the first half.
NYCFC was made to pay for those missed opportunities as half-time approached, with Messi briefly taking center stage.
A whipped freekick headed for the top corner drew a fingertip save from Matt Freese on 38 minutes, but there was nothing the NYCFC ‘keeper could do to keep out the Miami opener five minutes later.
Messi found himself in a pocket of space in the NYCFC midfield for the first time and took full advantage by playing an inch-perfect through ball for Rodríguez, who coolly slotted beyond the onrushing Freese to give the visitors the lead on the stroke of half-time.
Chances were few and far between in the second period as the rain hammered down on the Citi Field surface, causing slips and spills aplenty.
The slippery surface also made it harder for the hosts to exploit the space in behind the Miami defense, with the ball often squirting through to Ustari.
The game appeared to be drifting toward a forgettable conclusion before Messi once again took center stage on 74 minutes, latching onto an exquisite through ball from Sergio Busquets before producing a deft chip over the onrushing Freese.
Suarez ensured there would be no NYCFC comeback nine minutes later when he sent Freese the wrong way from the spot after Justin Haak fouled Rodrigo De Paul in the area.
There was still time for Messi to apply added gloss to the scoreline on 86 minutes when the Argentine fired across Freese and into the bottom corner from a tight angle on his right foot.
The results seal Inter Miami’s place in the MLS Cup playoffs and leave Javier Mascherano’s side five points off the top of the Eastern Conference with two games in hand on the teams above them.
NYCFC, meanwhile, face a trip to local rivals the New York Red Bulls on Saturday evening as Jansen’s side attempts to get their season back on track with three games remaining in the regular season.
