KANSAS CITY, MO – APRIL 13: Lionel Messi #10 of Inter Miami dribbles against Sporting Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium on April 13, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Thaddaeus McAdams/Getty Images)
Sporting Kansas City 2-3 Inter Miami CF
KANSAS CITY, MO–Inter Miami ended a winless run of five games with an away win against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night at the Arrowhead Stadium.
Usually playing at the much smaller Children’s Mercy Park, Sporting Kansas didn’t appear overwhelmed, and despite the party atmosphere, came out firing from the kickoff. The sellout crowd of 72,610 came to see Lionel Messi and a good game, neither disappointed.
A frenetic opening five minutes saw both sides concede possession cheaply a number of times as they searched to find an early opening. Some sloppy play and poor use of the ball were a feature of the opening minutes.
However, the home fans didn’t have to wait long for something to cheer about as they took an early lead.
As Miami looked to build from the back, Marcelo Weigandt was caught in possession and Sporting Kansas pounced. Tim Liebold quickly found Erik Tommy on the edge of the area and the midfielder struck a curling shot into the far corner beyond the rather weak attempt to stop it by Drake Callender.
It was a great strike, but was a poor goal to concede from Miami’s point of view, having lost possession in a dangerous area. Something I’m sure Inter’s coach Gerardo Martina will have noticed and want to address.
After the goal the game became disjointed again as both sides were guilty of giving away the ball far too easily, inviting their opponent onto them. Often appearing like a pinball machine as the ball ricocheted everywhere.
That is until a moment of class from Miami. Messi saw the clever run from Diego Gomez and finds him with a great pass to unlock the Kansas defence. Gomez managed to find the net despite the best efforts of Sporting’s number one Tim Melia, who was unlucky not to make the save.
It was a perfectly timed run by Gomez and you can see Messi look up and spot him, and his perfectly weighted ball was at the feet of the youngster moments later.
From then on Miami started to take control of the game, but Sporting wasn’t about to lie down and continued to make it difficult for Miami to play their game. Willy Agada proving to be a constant thorn in the side of the defence.
But as the game went on Messi’s influence grew and they started to create more chances. The Inter Miami captain went close with a free kick outside the area and also made the keeper work after latching onto a pass from Jordi Alba.
The right-back was a constant threat down the flank and often seemed to telepathically know just where Messi or Suarez is.
The second half started out much like the first with five minutes of chaotic football.
The theme of conceding possession in dangerous areas continued as a loose pass saw Sporting lose the ball in the midfield not far from their own goal.
Sergio Busquets picked up the loose ball and within seconds it was recycled and at the feet of Messi. The Argentine maestro found himself in some space for the first time in the game and stepped up to show his quality, curling his shot into the net passed the desperate dive of Melia.
It was a moment of magic the game had rarely seen and although the home fans were disappointed, they also got to see why Lionel Messi is considered one of the best players of all time.
But their side weren’t done yet.
A Sporting corner was headed clear by Suarez. The ball looped up high and wide to the edge of the penalty area where it was met on the volley by Thommy. His wonderful strike hit the inside of the post and went in for a memorable goal to bring Kansas City level. It was more than the home side deserved, but they weren’t complaining, and neither were the fans who went wild.
Inevitably, the game was decided after another error. Sporting attempted to play their way out from the back and got it all wrong. Melia plays it to Jake Davis, and he doesn’t have enough time to control the ball before he’s robbed of possession by Gomez. His quick cross finds the onrushing Suarez and the striker doesn’t miss an empty net from two yards out.
Both sides continued to probe but Sporting showed a real lack of any urgency to find an equalizer despite an additional nine minutes of added time and the heady pace of the match seemed to catch up with some of the players.
There were signs of a late flurry from Sporting, but it never quite happened, and the match started to peter out soon after Miami’s third goal.
Miami seemed quite content to play out the last minutes comfortably and take home the points.
