Lionel Messi scored a great goal this Saturday to help Inter Miami come back 2-3 against Sporting Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, led by Patrick Mahomes, who did not want to miss this vibrant MLS match.
The Uruguayan Luis Suárez and the Paraguayan Diego Gómez scored the other two goals for the Florida team, which did not have a perfect night since the Spanish Jordi Alba was injured in the final stretch and had to leave the match.
To receive Messi and company, Sporting Kansas City went from the Children’s Mercy Park stadium, with capacity for about 18,500 spectators, to the enormous Arrowhead Stadium, where tonight there was a spectacular atmosphere in the stands with 72,610 spectators.
Mahomes, who in this venue has become a true NFL legend (three-time Super Bowl champion), attended as a spectator and greeted Messi beforehand. The brilliant ‘quarterback’ of the Chiefs was an interested party in this game since he is a shareholder in Sporting Kansas City.
This victory broke Inter Miami’s worrying streak, which had gone five games in a row without winning in all competitions (three losses and two draws). He also regained his spirit after being eliminated this week in the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup at the hands of Monterrey.
Failures in starting from behind have been a very serious problem for Inter Miami and in Kansas City Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino’s team stumbled over the same stone again.
The Argentine ‘Chelo’ Weigandt made a fatal mistake on the right wing, Tim Leibold stole his wallet and opened the wing for Erik Thommy to open the scoring in the 6th minute with a beautiful shot.
It took 12 minutes for Inter Miami to equalize and they did so through Messi, who found between the lines and left Gómez alone who only had to put the ball into the net.
Rosario’s genius warned the locals with a direct free kick that missed the mark by millimeters, but his masterpiece came after the restart (1-1 at half-time).
Recklessly, Sporting Kansas City left Messi alone on the front line, who received the ball, stood out and unleashed an impressive shot in the 51st minute that sounded like thunder in Arrowhead.
His joy did not last long, as seven minutes later Thommy rounded off his double with a rebound from a corner that the German connected in an amazing way to score the second after hitting the post.
The game entered a back-and-forth stretch and there the team in pink defined, taking advantage of an error by the Sporting Kansas City defense.
Jake Davis fell asleep on the right wing, Gómez kept the ball and the Paraguayan served a perfect assist for Suárez to push in the 71st minute.
Alba’s injury was the cross for Inter Miami, who, however, had good news with the return of Benjamin Cremaschi who had not yet made his debut this season due to a hernia.