The Houston Dynamo, on Wednesday night, defeated Inter Miami 2-1 to win the U.S. Open Cup, with an injured Lionel Messi watching from the stands at DRV PNK Stadium.
Without Messi and his former Barcelona team-mate, Jordi Alba, Miami struggled to compete with an enterprising Houston Dynamo and could have little to complain about the outcome.
Miami co-owner David Beckham, who watched the game with his former Real Madrid team-mate Zinedine Zidane, had hoped for another night of celebration after the team’s Leagues Cup triumph last month.
But Miami lacked intensity and ideas as they were given the runaround by Ben Olsen’s impressive Houston team.
With no Messi to worry about, Houston Dynamo were on top from the outset, moving the ball around with confidence and purpose while Miami struggled to get a foothold.
Houston grabbed the lead in the 24th minute with a perfect counter-attack ending with Brazilian Artur feeding the overlapping Griffin Dorsey who blasted in at the near post.
READ ALSO: Messi substituted in Inter Miami return over injury scare
Colombian winger Quinones cut into the box from the left flank and Miami right-back, DeAndre Yedlin’s desperate lunge brought him crashing to the ground. French forward Amine Bassi made no mistake from the spot to make it 2-0.
Venezuelan striker, Josef Martinez, Martinez gave Miami some late hope with a left-foot strike in stoppage time after latching on to a ball from Argentine Facundo Farias.
But it was too late from Miami and Houston Dynamo deservedly won their second U.S. Open Cup to add to their triumph in 2018.
No clear explanation has been given for Messi’s injury with references to “muscle fatigue” followed by talk from coach Gerardo Martino of “scars” from an old injury.
“It was not prudent for him to play, we couldn’t even consider playing him for a few minutes because we would be taking risks,” Martino said after the match.
The former Barcelona and Argentina coach said he expected Messi to feature at some stage in the upcoming five games that remain for Miami in the MLS regular season.
“He will certainly play before the league is over. We will go match by match and see how things are coming along and if the medical department can give him the OK to play without any risks,” he added.
Miami had won the Leagues Cup last month with Messi prominently involved but they must now battle to make the Major League Soccer play-offs with uncertainty over their Argentine star’s fitness.
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