Lionel Messi continued his rich vein of scoring in MLS, finding the target twice as Inter Miami came from behind for a 4-1 win at the New England Revolution on Saturday.
With his brace, Messi, the top scorer in MLS, took his tally to nine goals from seven appearances this season.
A record crowd of 65,612 turned up at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, the stadium the Revolution share with the NFL’s New England Patriots, to see the Argentine World Cup winner.
The Revs, who had been hit by a virus in the build-up to the game and bottom of the Eastern Conference, delighted the bumper home crowd after just 40 seconds through an Argentine of their own — Tomas Chancalay.
Miami defender Nicolas Freire gave the ball away to Spanish midfielder Carles Gil, who clipped a ball over the top to Chancalay, who spotted Drake Callender well off his line and chipped it over the stranded Miami keeper for the opening goal.
Messi got Miami back on level terms in the 32nd minute when he was found by Robert Taylor’s through pass and the 36-year-old made no mistake, slotting home.
The eight-times Ballon d’Or winner struck again to put Miami ahead in the 68th minute when he collected a superb defence-splitting pass from his former Barcelona team-mate Sergio Busquets and finished with his usual ease.
Miami added two more in the final stages — both created by Messi.
Substitute Benjamin Cremaschi made it 3-1 in the 83rd minute, pouncing after a Messi shot was parried out. Luis Suarez completed the scoring, finding the top corner after a pass inside from Messi.
Miami has won three straight games since their exit from the Concacaf Champions Cup at the hands of Mexican club Monterrey with Messi scoring five times in that run which includes wins at Kansas City and at home to Nashville.
Coach Gerardo Martino said the team were starting to come together as he had hoped.
“The Kansas City game was a key for us, because we had just been eliminated by Monterrey and the team showed their character. Now we have three wins in a row and it is getting more solid every time,” he said.
Martino said the rest of his players had now got used to playing in front of the large crowds that Messi is drawing.
“We’ve handled it well. That was a learning curve last season and now we are dealing with it well,” he added.
New England coach Caleb Porter said he was disappointed that his defenders had allowed Messi the space for his goals but said the Argentine had shown his class in making them pay.
‘That’s Messi.’ “You have to look at both those moments because I thought they were able to find two goals when we felt pretty good about the way we were limiting their effectiveness in creating clear chances,” he said. “But you know, that’s Messi, he finds two goals out of nowhere and it exposes the detail in those moments from us.
“I don’t think he had a ton of touches and effectiveness early in the game but, you know, that’s kind of him — he lulls you….we can’t allow a ball to be popped through the back four and find him twice,” he added.
Elsewhere …
• D.C. United 2 Seattle 1. Christian Benteke scored twice for D.C. United as they enjoyed a 2-1 win at home over the struggling Seattle Sounders.
The Sounders led 1-0 through a Leo Chu goal but had goalkeeper Stefan Frei sent off in the 28th minute after he brought down Jared Stroud in the box. Benteke put away the penalty and then won the game with a trademark header at the back post on the stroke of half-time.
• Philadelphia 1 Real Salt Lake 2. Real Salt Lake took over at the top of the Western Conference after handing the Philadelphia Union its first loss of the season with a 2-1 win in Pennsylvania. RSL moves above the Los Angeles Galaxy, which fell to a 2-0 defeat at Austin.
• Columbus 0 CF Montreal 0. Defending MLS champions Columbus Crew was held to a goalless draw at home to CF Montreal.
Crew coach Wilfried Nancy rotated his line-up ahead of Wednesday’s CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal second leg at Monterrey.
sev/bb
© Agence France-Presse
This is great for the MLS and for soccer …I hope InterMIami beats everyone and in so doing allows the audience to enjoy soccer ,increase the attendance to the stadium wherever they go and play…I SAY, “bring in more foreign star talent” like we did with the NASL of the 70’s in order to raise the level of play and soccer and at the same time EDUCATE the American soccer fan to the finer aspects. The only difference with today is that many more people have been educated to the game therefore making investments in bringing over foreign stars not risky.
As far as those who worry about restricting American talent a chance of playing probable, by bringing in more foreign players, I think we need to begin to look at things differently as far as developing our talent….WE ARE NOT DEVELOPING AMERICAN TALENT!!!!!!! or rather let me say TALENTED BALLPLAYERS!!!!! PERIOD.
The only so-called talent that we have supposedly produced comes from parents who played soccer themselves, the PULISICS and the REYNAS….That is it guys!!!! This is what we come up with in the last 50years…Both of these are nothing to write home about…So think of all the American boys in the past 50years since the NASL, this is basically what we have come up with and along with the help of our German friends since both moved there in their teens…
I tend to use the word ‘DEVELOP’ in a loose sense, here, when it comes to American player development. Saying and believing in “American Player Development” is on par with believing that the “Inflation Reduction Act” signed into law by this present administration actually reduces inflation. If you believe that then one shouldn’t be in politics nor in SOCCER!!! PERIOD!!!!!
Players like Dest were not developed here or rather ‘ripped off’ here, they were born in a foreign country and actually played and learned it elsewhere…But real American talent is closer to TURBO status than actually ‘real football’ status…and therefore if they can RUN ,RUN, RUN, with foam on their mouths, fight and give it their all, with little technical talent and brains, they are called here ‘soccer players’, and not to mention the money these poor ‘unknowing’ parents dish out.
I would take cut down the number of so-called American talent in the MLS and only employ the one of two of ‘finest’ American players per team, who can learn and improve to the point they can actually play ‘real’ soccer by playing next to the foreign ,more experienced players. Lets face it, I’m not interested in coming to the stadium to watch Stevie Notrap, former star of Nutmeg State College, playing defender in the back…Instead I prefer watching InterMiami, with many great stars and with a couple of best of best American talent learning their craft…
Trouble for MLS Frank, is they are stuck on their salary cap. There is a common thread thru all the hybrid single entity leagues in the USA – the use of ‘star’ players to placate fans in losing cities. Every team gets a ‘star’ but to win – owner must invest in players and staff, and in those that select them. Most owners – don’t want to do this. In the case of MLS – they have abstracted this to their league. They know they are not world class – they don’t care – they think have the single entity here (big assumption) – so to fool fans to think they are world class – opportunistically – they bring in – Beckham – then Zlatan – now Messi. They are afraid to relax their salary cap – it’s like a security blanket – and as in all these leagues – most of the owners – are happy with asset appreciation – it’s like money in the bank – and they want stability – not increasing operation costs. If everyone gets to pay more to players – how can I improve my situation – this is the thinking. This is our situation. It will not change. Enjoy Messi while he’s here – another tried and true mechanism from the hybrid-single-entity world will be employed – Chicago fans know this well – after 6 straight NBA titles – Bulls – cleared the deck of big player salaries – reduced payroll by millions – and lived off their sold out stadiums and jersey sales for a decade. After Messi goes – MLS and ownership – will sit back. No rush for them. Good day.
Player development – the league leaves this up to ownership – 100% – most MLS teams – look it up – look at your local team – have only 3 teams in their Academies. U15-U17-U19. Remember bio-banding – fugetaboutit – in this setup. In Uruguay – AUF – their USSF – runs the Academy leagues – you drop one team – forget two – you are out. This is because it is not possible – no where in the world where they produce pro players do academies have 3 team. I am not an expert or journalist – but I know folks in Ghana, Hungary, Uruguay and Croatia, and there are zero academies with 3 teams U15, 17, 19 in those countries top academy leagues. Owners have to foot the bill for academies here – and – since our transition from 2nd to 1st team is not well developed – it’s not easy to turn the youth contract into a pro contract and win money down the road – we have maybe 4 academies that do it here, out of 30. Long way to go. I don’t blame MLS. USSF – they have yet to step forward on this front. USSF – take over our Academy leagues – like the rest of the world – set some minimum standards – and we are in the game. Until then – it’s all window dressing – and – exactly as you say – advantage soccer parents that played the game.
Students of the game – watch Suarez on his goal – he is offside – if you ever watch him live – I have many times – he is in offside position – long stretches of game. This is a high level tactic. This particular offside – was a specific implementation of the offside-set – here – he positions himself offside – obviously – to relax the defender – this is a signal to smart player like Messi – get ready – Suarez darts back into play – no one pics him up – then pass – dip – bang. Seen this so many time – with and without Messi. Remember – Suarez xfered to Atletico Madrid after Barca – won La Liga – he does this. Just Messi has a special ability to deliver the ball. No one can be Messi – anyone young #9 who studies the game – and has a certain physical ability and wit and can focus when playing – can be Suarez.
More for students of the game. I was at my son’s youth match yesterday – I have never seen so many offside by forwards. They were all on our teams forwards.
We came back from 0-1 to tie 1-0 – you all know – that type of tie – the come-back tie feels like a win – but – should have really been a win. All – 100% of the offside were straight runs. Forwards – study American football Wide Receiver routes. In soccer – you do them all – the diagonal – the hook – all – you must have them – you must study the defender – and the defense – know which to use – when – or just mix them up. Any club that plays high line against you – you run at them – but never directly – diagonal – change direction – cross with the other forward – run picks – yes – basketball movements as well – frequently – you see these in set plays – but they can also be used in open play to shed the defender – little brush. Study these movements – educate yourself – plan – think – then go out and – make it happen!
Humble, I think the problem with players being offsides is due to the style of soccer that is being played today….. toooooooo many passes go backwards instead of forwards…Today the backline touches the ball more than forward line….IN OTHER WORDS, the less technical players have the ball more…The GOLDEN RULE in soccer is to get the ball forward to the attackers ,the creators, the players that can make a difference with the ball…..WINGERS should never be offsides for they have the best fieldview of anyone out there….
Humble ,some good points but we’ll see what InterMilan does and how successful they will be….The salary was a problem with the NASL because they haven’t build a strong foundation of soccer ‘nuts’ at that time, but now 50years later more people more fans more leagues( Too much for me right now) the demands of tv , more public makes it easier to work with salary….
As far as Messi goes , yes he can lay off passes but good soccer players can do that too, Pirlo, Xavi, and others have that ability….What makes Messi special is that he actually plays simple, doesn’t try to outrun players but knows his limitations and employs his 1v1 strengths , receives the ball well and can go right away….A good soccer player can do that…He’s good in scoring, controlling the ball while on the run. He doesn’t have a hard shot and rarely shoots from distance but goes into the penalty for short, quick goals….
Frank, correct in what you write – as usual. I only leave off Messi because it’s almost impossible – given what I have observed here in youth soccer – in the 10 states and 10 years my son has played – is that the small player like Messi was – has zero chance here. It was difficult for him – even in Argentina. Here we see Diego Luna and think – diminutive player. He is 1″ taller than Messi who was 2″ taller than Maradona. Not possible here. That’s all. Lot’s to learn from Messi – for sure – but Suarez – I’ve met him – he looks – like a normal person – not an athlete – or diminutive – just normal. That’s why I use him – also – our forwards here – completely untrained in the off ball moves to shake defenders – and Suarez – has them all – as do our wide receivers in American football. One of the reasons my son goes to D1 college is – I realized that here – almost zero coaches know how to teach defense – parents – you-tube search – Dick Bates – watch his trainings – ask yourself – is my son/daughter getting this training – 90% or more will answer – no – then – you-tube – defensive back training – and you will see – exactly what Dick is teaching – so I found a smart American football db – to teach my son how to defend – parents – you can do the same with a WR coach – if you son/daughter is a #9. Soccer coaching here is so poor – we have to look at other sport – to find good coaching – another space – probably the biggest waste of parent / player time / money is Speed Agility – there are more charlatans in this space than any. I digress. Frank you are 100% correct – a lot can be learned from Messi – all I’m saying is that Suarez – can be learned from as well – he gets overlooked. That’s all. Thanks amigo!
Humble, Ofcourse you can learn from Suarez as well ,especially when you’re a finisher….But one you can learn from all of the is how they receive a ball when under pressure..
As far as defense goes, so much can be done with using your head and smarts, anticipate, be proactive, close down a passing lane…How often do you see a defender go to an opponent without looking behind in order to close down a passing to another opponent behind…it happens all the time…Never stand square with your opponent ,always a step back….Sometimes its best not to guard an opponent tight for strikers like to feel his man where he’s at then take appropriate action, but if he doesn’t know where your at then he feels unsure .Most defense has to do with cutting down space and tackling should be the last ,last resort…For example, how often do you see a cross pass to the other side to a wing for instance….In that case to prevent it you take a couple of steps closer to the wing but still remain behind and inside of him. In this way the passer on the opposite side will think twice whether it is worth it to make that pass….By moving 2 steps forward you denied a pass to your opponent….
The first 10minutes as a player, you read the game first, in other words the patterns of play and how it affects and then adjust….You need first be familiar with the details of the flow of the ball….As you watch the women’s game Barcelona vsChelsea….you can tell Barca likes to go forward with the ball as compared to Chelsea employing more pass backwards….I love watching the defense as far as the nuances go