Inter Miami’s sensational Leagues Cup run continued Tuesday with Tata Martino’s squad booking their place in the tournament final.
Josef Martinez, Lionel Messi, and Jordi Alba all scored in the first half at Subaru Park before David Ruiz added an insurance goal for a 4-1 road victory over the Philadelphia Union. It marked the Herons’ fifth regulation victory in the tournament and their sixth overall.
It was a fast start for Inter Miami, who needed only three minutes to break the deadlock in Chester, Pennsylvania. Serhiy Kryvtsov’s long-ball pass allowed Martinez to get behind the Union backline before unleashing a powerful effort into the bottom-left corner.
It was Martinez’s third goal of the Leagues Cup, which put the Union in an early hole.
Messi doubled the Herons’ lead in the 20th minute by beating Andre Blake from an audacious effort outside of the box. Kryvtsov and Martinez connected on a pass before Martinez’s flicked pass allowed Messi to race upfield.
The Argentine legend drilled a left-footed shot from 30+ yards out that Blake was unable to keep from finding the bottom-right corner for a 2-0 advantage. It was Messi’s ninth goal since joining the Herons from Paris Saint-Germain.
Despite some chances for the Union later in the half, Inter Miami extended its lead to 3-0 before halftime through Jordi Alba’s first goal. Robert Taylor held off several Union players before playing Alba down the left wing.
The Spaniard’s confident strike snuck by Blake and continued a busy first half for the visitors.
Alejandro Bedoya came off the bench and pulled one goal back for the Union in the 75th minute, but Inter Miami would have the final say.
DeAndre Yedlin’s through-ball pass sprung David Ruiz upfield before the 19-year-old netted his second goal of the season in all competitions.
The Herons would comfortably book their place into Sunday’s final, where they will meet either Nashville SC (away) or Monterrey (home).
there is a rumor that maybe conmebol sees if they can get inter miami in copa libertadores, which is nuts. between that and the highlight reel — which deals with the “retirement home” concern — jackpot.
bears reminding they are on a double cup run since they haven’t had a league game in probably close to a month, but remain the worst team in the MLS table, attracting this attention, a paradox.
The brilliance of the dude in that shot from distance. Clearly he noticed Blake backing up and knew his feet wouldn’t be set for a shot. To execute that strike on the run 30 yards out….. I have no words. Inch perfect shot.
blake is left of center and a couple times right before the shot he even turns like 45-60 degrees to his right. it’s not bad keeper positioning considering he’s “left hash” but turning sideways, he kind of overcommitted and made it hard to get back to the other pole. i also think that him retreating all the way to the endline actually gives away angle. maybe he was worried he’d get chipped far post if he stayed further out, but if you think about it you have to cover less ground to save an angle a little further out. this is one reason beyond intimidation keepers step to a shooter in the box.
i thought he made a similar mistake on martinez’s goal. the guy’s flying into the box and he seems more concerned about retreating to his line than coming out to shrink the angle.
Audacious doesn’t begin to describe Messi’s goal, IMO. If it was anyone else taking that shot, I’d be saying, what are you THINKING?
to be blunt i think it’s a little shocking to american fans in 2023 because we have been drilled in pointless-pass-apalooza. right when GB teaches us to stop, hold up, and wait for numbers, he goes after the backs and takes shots when he has room. this is what i was getting at when i was saying c. world cup that i think the future is more direct. you look at the 2 finalists and it was mbappe wide speed vs. di maria/messi get the ball and take people on (as well as holland playing outright kickball at times). when i played taking the ball to the flag was seen as running out of ideas. i think direct soccer is coming back in response to soft zone defenses. to be blunter i think messi was what most people were thinking of when we talked c. bradley’s tenure about needing more skill to advance deeper. i don’t think we were talking about perimeter keepaway as skill. i think it got hijacked. i think we bought a bill of goods and i am glad messi is here showing a different way to go about it.