Inter Miami, led by Argentine star Lionel Messi, drew 1-1 with Nashville and was eliminated on away goals in a match that will go down in history as it was the game in which the forward scored his 900th career goal. The match was played tonight at Chase Stadium in the second leg of the Concacaf Champions League Round of 16.
The captain scored the first goal of the match in the sixth minute of the first half with a low, driven shot across goal, allowing him to reach a new statistical milestone in his career. Argentine forward Cristian Espinoza scored in the 28th minute of the second half.
With the aggregate defeat, Inter Miami was eliminated in the Round of 16, marking their worst performance in the North American tournament in three years: they were semifinalists last year and reached the quarterfinals in 2014. The first chance of the match came in the third minute, with a low cross from the right by Lionel Messi that left striker Germán Berterame unmarked, although the Argentine-born Mexican goalkeeper Brian Schwanke easily collected the ball.
The first goal of the match came in the sixth minute, when Messi received a pass from the left by full-back Sergio Reguilón and fired a low shot across goal, which went between a defender’s legs and opened the scoring, also marking the 900th goal of his career.
In the 35th minute, Messi threaded a pass to the right for the overlapping Argentine winger Tadeo Allende, who attempted to chip the ball over the onrushing Schwanke, who made a good save to deflect the shot.
The first chance of the second half came in the 11th minute, with a cross from Messi on the left edge of the box to the penalty spot, where Berterame headed it straight into the hands of goalkeeper Brian Schwake.
Ten minutes later, midfielder Hany Mukhtar received a through ball and found himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, but his shot sailed high over the crossbar.
The visitors equalized in the 28th minute of the second half with a volley from striker Cristian Espinoza on the right side of the penalty area.
