Lionel Messi laments during the Inter Miami and Atlanta United match on November 9, 2024
Megan Briggs
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Changes origin and updates with Inter Miami’s defeat in the last game of the first round of the MLS playoffs.
Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, the big favorite for the North American League (MLS) title, was eliminated this Saturday in the first round of the playoffs, in which Orlando City and New York City qualified on penalties.
The closing of the first round, which was played in the best of three games, provided the big bomb of the year in the MLS, with Inter’s defeat on their home field by 3-2 against Atlanta United.
The team of Lionel Messi, who scored a goal with a header, and Luis Suárez aspired to win their first MLS title after a regular phase in which they finished in first place, breaking the points record.
But after that achievement, which earned them an invitation to the new 2025 Club World Cup, Miami was shipwrecked the first time in the playoffs against Atlanta, a team that finished in ninth place in the Eastern Conference and advanced to the postseason through playoffs.
“We have been the most consistent team, breaking the points record. It is a good season but what we wanted was to win these playoffs,” acknowledged Spaniard Jordi Alba, another of the former Barcelona figures gathered in Miami.
Inter, who had won the first game against Atlanta 2-1 and lost the second by the same score, took the lead on Saturday with a goal from Paraguayan Matías Rojas in the 17th minute but Senegalese Jamal Thiaré turned the score around in two devastating counterattacks in the 19th and 21st.
Messi, with a header in the small area, equalized in the 65th minute but the Polish Bartosz Slisz scored the winning goal for Atlanta in the 76th minute in a play in which he took advantage of the confusion generated by the fall of Inter defender Tomás in the area. Avilés due to an apparent physical problem.
The American Brad Guzan, a 40-year-old former goalkeeper of the American team, ended up being the figure for United dismantling the numerous arrivals of the desperate local squad.
Atlanta will face Orlando City in one of the East semifinals, which qualified in agonizing fashion on Saturday with Uruguayan attacker Facundo Torres and Peruvian Pedro Gallese as heroes.
City won the playoff match against Charlotte 4-1 on penalties, after a 1-1 draw in regulation time.
Uruguayan Facundo Torres’ Orlando City surpassed the first round of the MLS playoffs
Julio Aguilar
Torres revived Orlando with an agonizing goal in the 90+12 minute that neutralized the one scored by Poland’s Karol Swiderski for Charlotte in the 81st minute.
Torres was in charge of taking a maximum penalty signaled by the American Duncan McGuire falling in the area. The shot was deflected by Croatian goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina but the Uruguayan attacker got to the rebound first and tied the score, unleashing joy at the Inter&Co Stadium.
Colombian Óscar Pareja’s pupils did not miss this opportunity and converted their four penalties, including shots from fellow coffee grower Luis Muriel and Torres.
The Peruvian Gallese was the savior of the locals, saving the shots of Swiderski himself and the Spanish Pep Biel.
In the other tiebreaker match, New York City FC won 6-5 in a chaotic penalty shootout (0-0 in 90 minutes) on the FC Cincinnati field of Argentine Luciano Acosta, winner of the MVP award (Most Valuable Player ) from last season.
Argentine Luciano Acosta’s FC Cincinnati was eliminated in the first round of the MLS playoffs
Lauren Sopourn
American goalkeeper Matt Freese saved three maximum penalties for the visitors in a shootout in which five consecutive shots were missed.
The New York team will face its neighbor, New York Red Bulls, in the Eastern semifinals, which dispatched the current champion, Columbus Crew.
The semifinals, which are played in a single match, were already defined in the West, with Los Angeles FC scheduled against Seattle Sounders and Los Angeles Galaxy against Minnesota United.
— Saturday’s results in the first round of MLS playoffs:
FC Cincinnati – New York City FC 0-0 (5-6 on penalties)
Orlando City – Charlotte FC 1-1 (4-1 on penalties)
Inter Miami – Atlanta United 2-3
— Conference semifinal cross-overs (single match)
– It is
New York City vs New York Red Bulls
Orlando City vs Atlanta United
– West
Los Angeles FC vs Seattle Sounders
LA Galaxy vs Minnesota United
