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Lionel Messi helped Inter Miami clinch the MLS Supporters’ Shield (AP)
Lionel Messi scored twice in the final minutes of the first half as Inter Miami beat defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew 3-2, wrapping up the Supporters Shield given annually to the team with the best regular-season record.
Lionel Messi scored twice as Inter Miami beat the defending Major League Soccer champions the Columbus Crew 3-2 to clinch the Supporters’ Shield awarded for the best regular season record.
Messi had been subdued until the 45th minute when he put Inter ahead — chesting down a long ball into the box and getting a lucky bounce off Crew defender Malte Amundsen before poking home.
Minutes later, Messi made it 2-0, taking advantage of a poorly assembled wall to curl a laser-precision free-kick into the corner past the stationary Columbus keeper Patrick Schulte.
But 20 seconds after the start of the second half, Columbus pulled a goal back when the ball fell to Diego Rossi just inside the box and he cleverly curled his shot into the far corner.
Straight from the restart, Columbus gifted Miami a third when Schulte raced off his line but with defender Rudy Camacho in his way, he dropped the ball to Luis Suarez who headed into the unguarded goal.
The Crew battled back again though and made it 3-2 through a Cucho Hernandez penalty after Noah Allen handled in the box.
But once again, the momentum Columbus had gained was lost when Camacho was sent off for a second yellow card after a studs up challenge on Federico Redondo.
Seven minutes from the end though, the Crew had a glorious chance to grab a point — and deny Miami their celebration — when a penalty was awarded for handball against Ian Fray after a VAR review.
But this time Colombian Hernandez’s penalty was weak and Miami keeper Drake Callender dived to his right and saved.
The champions of MLS is determined by the winner of the MLS Cup playoffs — where Eastern Conference rivals the Crew and Miami could meet again.
It was Messi’s 46th major trophy won for club or country, extending his record for the most by any men’s soccer player in history. And it is the second he has won with Inter Miami, this Supporters Shield being added to the Leagues Cup trophy the Herons claimed shortly after Messi joined the club in 2023.
It was the fifth two-goal game of the MLS season for Messi, who now has 17 goals in 17 league matches this season. He’s missed 15 of Inter Miami’s MLS matches in 2024, either because of commitments to Argentina’s national team or the two-month absence that he needed to recover from a badly injured ankle — an injury that happened during his nation’s run to the Copa America title in July.
(With inputs from Agencies)
