FRISCO, TX – Inter Miami have been blessed to start their Leagues Cup campaign with four straight home games including their knockout win against Orlando City on Wednesday night, for the first time the club found themselves on the road in Texas where they played against FC Dallas.
Miami has been very quick to score the opening goal and tonight was no different, in the 7th minute of the game Leo Messi found the back of the net thanks to an assist from new teammate Jordi Alba. Messi’s goal streak is now up to four games in a row. However, Dallas evened it out thirty minutes later with a goal from Facundo Quignon. Dallas followed up with a quick strike from Bernard Kamungo to give themselves a 2-1 lead heading into halftime.
Dallas struck again after halftime giving them a 3-1 advantage over the Herons. However the large gap didn’t last long as Benjamin Cremaschi found the back of the net off an assist from Jordi Alba just a minute after being brought into the match as a substitute applying pressure to Dallas.
However, Dallas gave a quick response from an unlikely source, as Inter Miami striker Robert Taylor who’s performed sensationally in the tournament up to this point scored an own goal, giving Dallas a 4-2 lead. Fortunately, Taylor was not the only one who would score an own goal as FC Dallas Defender Marco Farfan would score an own goal shrinking the lead back to one goal.
Then, the unthinkable happened. Five minutes left to go, Miami on the brink of elimination and who comes to save the day? Leo Messi, Messi magic happens again. In the 85th minute, Messi finds the back of the net to send the game into a penalty shootout. This also marks the 3rd straight game that Messi has scored two goals in the same match.
Miami was first to start the penalty shootout. The team went a perfect 5 for 5 in the shootout round, winning the game 5-3 on penalties in a thrilling showdown.
The Herons move on to the round of eight where they will face the winner of tomorrow’s knockout game between the Houston Dynamo and Charlotte FC.
