Lionel Messi scored twice and Drake Callender made a late penalty-kick save as Inter Miami held on for a 3-2 victory over the host Columbus Crew to clinch the Supporters’ Shield in a battle of heavyweights on Wednesday.
The Supporters’ Shield is a major trophy in Major League Soccer (MLS).
In the US, football is always carried out a little differently. The league champion is not decided simply by points at the end of the season. There are the MLS Cup Playoffs, where the top nine teams of the Eastern And Western Conferences play in an elimination tournament to reach the MLS Cup, the annual championship game or final.
The Supporters’ Shield is awarded for the team with the most points in either conference in the regular season.
Under Messi’s influence, supported by Uruguay international Luis Suarez, Miami have gone from finishing 27th in the Supporters’ Shield in 2023 to first in 2024.
Messi stunned the sell-out crowd with goals in the 45th minute and fifth minute of first-half stoppage time to give Miami what seemed like a comfortable lead.
But the Crew got a goal from Diego Rossi in the 46th minute before a defensive blunder gifted Miami’s Luis Suarez his 18th goal to make it 3-1 in the matchup of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
Cucho Hernandez converted a penalty in the 61st to cut the deficit to 3-2 but just two minutes later, Crew defender Rudy Camacho was sent off after his second yellow.
With the win, Miami remain on track to set the MLS record for points in a season set by the New England Revolution in 2021 with 73, if they beat Toronto FC and New England in their last two matches.
Messi, playing against Columbus for the first time, broke the scoreless deadlock with a chip of Patrick Schulte and doubled the score with a 24-yard free-kick for his 17th goal in 17 MLS matches.
The Crew responded just after the break when Rossi deftly sliced a left-foot shot to the far corner for his 12th goal but soon after Schulte and Camacho collided and Suarez easily scored.
Hernandez scored his 17th goal after a handball on Noah Allen.
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