Lionel Messi injures hamstring as Inter Miami top Necaxa

AFP

Lionel Messi left injured in the 11th minute with hamstring discomfort, but Inter Miami earned a 5-4 penalty shootout win against visiting Necaxa following a 2-2 draw in Matchday 2 of Leagues Cup Phase One play on Saturday night.

Miami (1-0-1, 5 points) converted all of their penalties, with Luis Suarez clinching the extra point with a finish off the underside of the crossbar after a wild game that saw both teams finish with 10 men.

Herons goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo made one save, thwarting Tomas Badaloni's attempt from the spot.

Earlier, Badaloni scored his third of the tournament in the 33rd minute for Necaxa (1-0-1, 4 points), who played 11-on-10 for 43 minutes after Inter Miami's Maximiliano Falcon was ejected for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity with a 17th-minute foul.

Cristian Calderon's second yellow card in the 60th minute evened numbers before Necaxa's Ricardo Montreal and Miami's Jordi Alba traded goals after the 80th minute.

Miami's Telasco Segovia opened the scoring a minute after Messi's departure.

The 38-year-old Messi limped off the field under his own power. Miami manager Javier Mascherano confirmed postgame that Messi felt hamstring soreness, and expressed optimism it was relatively minor.

Club America 3 (8), Minnesota United 3 (7)

All eight penalty takers converted to lift 10-man Club America to an important two points with an 8-7 penalty shootout victory after rallying from behind three times.

Sebastian Caceres' 90th-minute header pulled America (0-0-2, 3 points) level from behind for a third time in the match and fifth time in the tournament. Goalkeeper Luis Malagon then followed a sensational denial of Carlos Harvey in second-half stoppage time with a penalty save of Nicolas Romero on Minnesota's eighth PK to help seal the shootout win.

The Mexico City outfit previously tied it at 1-1 through Michael Boxall's own goal in the 27th minute and 2-2 on Jose Zuniga's 53rd-minute contribution.

Tani Oluwaseyi and Bongi Hlongwane each scored their second goals of the tournament for Minnesota (1-0-1, 4 points). Harvey then put the Loons up 3-2 in the 65th minute, three minutes after America's Igor Lichnovsky received his second yellow card.

Pumas UNAM 3, Atlanta United 2

Coco Carrasquilla completed a second-half brace for his second and third goals of the tournament and Pumas held on for victory despite the late ejection of their goalkeeper.

Alvaro Angulo scored the earlier goal for Pumas (1-0-1, 5 points). Then he played in goal for the final moments after Keylor Navas was sent off in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time in a match played in Orlando, Fla.

Atlanta (0-2-0, 0 points) took a 2-1 lead into halftime through an own-goal from Navas and a late-first-half strike from Emmanuel Latte Lath. But the Five Stripes were eliminated from tournament contention after conceding multiple second-half goals for a second consecutive match.

Carrasquilla leveled at 2-2 in the 62nd minute with a powerful finish from the edge of the penalty area, then put Pumas in front in 89th when he put in the rebound of his own saved penalty.

Atletico San Luis 2 (4), Real Salt Lake 2 (1)

Andres Sanchez saved one penalty in regulation, then one more to help visiting Atletico San Luis to a hard-earned shootout win in Sandy, Utah.

Miguel Garcia and Joao Pedro scored in regulation for San Luis (0-1-1, 2 points) before all four PK takers converted in the tiebreaker (4-1).

Braian Angulo scored both goals for Real Salt Lake (0-0-2, 3 points), including an 88th-minute equalizer that snuck inside the far right post on what looked to be an intended cross.

But Diego Luna's failure to convert from the spot in regulation against Sanchez forced the shootout, where Brayan Vera missed the target and Sanchez saved Justen Glad.

Orlando City 3, Atlas 1

Martin Ojeda scored the decisive goal in the 57th minute to boost Orlando City's hopes of reaching the knockout phase and eliminate visiting Atlas from contention.

Ivan Angulo opened the scoring, and Marco Pasalic added very late insurance 12 minutes into second-half stoppage time seal the win for Orlando (1-0-1, 4 points). The Lions opened their tournament with a 1-1 draw against Pumas UNAM and lost the ensuing penalty shootout.

Matias Coccaro briefly leveled the contest in the 50th minute for Atlas (0-2-0, 0 points), which lost its opening match 2-1 to Inter Miami on a stoppage-time goal assisted by Messi.

Coccaro was later sent off in second-half stoppage time before Pasalic's tally for his role in a late skirmish that involved several players from both teams.

Portland Timbers 1, Queretaro 0

Cristhian Paredes scored his second goal in as many appearances in the 36th minute to keep Portland perfect against 10-man Queretaro.

Paredes' powerful low finish from the second phase of a corner kick followed his first goal of the regular season in a 1-0 victory at LAFC a week ago.

James Pantemis made two saves for Portland (2-0-0, six points) to keep his second clean sheet of the tournament and fifth in all competitions.

Jonathan Perlaza became the second Queretaro player sent off in as many games in the 45th minute as the Gallos Blancos (0-2-0, 0 points) were eliminated from tournament contention.

More from Sports

News