Stop for Messi and Inter Miami. The beautiful dynamic of the Floridian club was stopped net on the night of Wednesday to Thursday by a heavy defeat on the lawn of FC Cincinnati (0-3), in MLS. Unbeaten since May 18 and out of five consecutive victories, Javier Mascherano's team saw its broken momentum in the face of a solid and perfectly organized opponent.
So far, Lionel Messi wore his team with brilliance, chaining five doubles in as many meetings, facing Nashville, New England, Columbus and twice against Montreal. But this time, the Argentinian was well contained by the defense of Cincinnati, being not very dangerous. His accomplice in attack, Luis Suarez, also remained discreet.
Cincinnati quickly took control of the game by opening the scoring in the 16th minute thanks to a precise strike from the young Gerardo Valenzuela. Dominators, Ohio players confirmed their superiority in the second half, with a double from the Brazilian Evander (50th, 70th), now the author of 15 goals this season in MLS.
Messi slowed down in his crazy series
The evening was even more complicated for Miami with the injury outing of his goalkeeper Oscar Ustari in the 25th minute. His replacement could not stop the constant pressure from Cincinnati. This setback relegates the Inter in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, seven lengths from its executioner of the day.
Thanks to this victory, Cincinnati remains firmly hung in second place, at only one point from the leader, the Philadelphia Union. On the side of Miami, this defeat also marks a stop for Messi. At 38, he had remained on an unprecedented series since 2012 of five consecutive doubles. With 16 goals in 17 games, he is however at the shoulder-to-comet in the MLS gold shoe race, just behind the Nashville striker, Sam Surridge (17 goals).
