Messi inspired Inter Miami’s comeback in the Florida derby and had a run-in with Orlando’s head coach
The Florida derby on Sunday didn’t lack for drama or goals, with a Leo Messi-inspired Inter Miami coming back from a 2-0 half-time deficit to rout their rivals 2-4. The Argentine superstar chipped in with two goals and one assist and was seen gesturing towards Orlando City head coach Óscar Pareja at full time.
Orlando raced into a 2-0 first-half lead thanks to goals from Marco Pašalić and Martin Ojeda, whose exquisite finish put the home side in what appeared to be a comfortable position. Then, at the interval, Pareja was seen having a word with Messi, while covering his mouth with his hand, of course, and the Miami no.10 didn’t seem to impressed.
Half-time exchange but Messi had the last word
However, Messi and his teammates did their talking on the pitch, coming out swinging after the break and blowing away the home side. There would be time at the end for a reminder about who had the last laugh, however.
Mateo Silvetti began the comeback in the 49th minute with an excellent dipping strike from outside the area. His compatriot Messi grabbed the equaliser less than 10 minutes later, taking advantage of confusion on the edge of the fox to fire home.
Then, with five minutes of normal time remaining, Messi turned provider, laying off Germán Berterame’s cross for Telasco Segovia to sweep the ball home with aplomb.
Suggested Articles
Messi late show sealed the deal
Having already turned the game completely on its head, Messi and Miami found the way to seal the deal and put the cherry on the cake in the 87th minute.
The Inter Miami captain went down somewhat softly under pressure from Colin Guske and then begged the referee to show the 19-year-old a second yellow.
The referee duly obliged and then up stepped Messi to do his part from the dead ball. Although Canadian goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau will be disappointed not to have gotten a stronger hand to it, there was an inevitability about the way Messi bent the ball round the wall and into the net.
With the game wrapped up in style, Messi then turned towards the bench and made a “signing” gesture to Pareja, perhaps asking the Orlando City coach if he wanted an autograph.
Whatever the Colombian coach said at half time, it seemed to backfire as Messi responded on the pitch and then let him know after the fourth goal that perhaps it’s best not to rile up the greatest player of all time.