Inter Miami made it two wins in a row as they overcame conceding an early own goal to win comfortably at Chase Stadium.
An early Nashville corner came off the leg of Franco Negri and flew past Drake Callender to give the visitors the lead, and they almost made it two just minutes later.
A second corner wasn’t cleared properly, and Nashville fed the ball back into the mixer when Joshua Bauer hit a sweet volley that crashed onto the underside of the bar and somehow rebounded into the hands of Callender.
It was a let-off for Miami and they didn’t take long to heed the warning and bring parity to the game. Messi received the ball just inside the opponent’s half and ran at the defence. His left-foot shot is well saved by Elliot Panicco in the Nashville goal but the deflection bounces back to Messi who side-foots it into an empty net.
As they looked to take control it was Messi again who was at the centre of things. A mistake in the Nashville back line conceded possession and Messi was able to run at the defence only to see his shot come off the foot of the post.
But it was end-to-end stuff as Nashville made their own chance when a simple ball over the top caught the Miami defence flatfooted. Hany Mukhtar used his pace to pull away and his cross into the box looking for Sam Sunridge, was eventually cleared by Tomas Aviles just when the goal opened up in front of the big striker.
Miami then started to turn the screw as they piled on the pressure and force Nashville into mistakes.
Suarez did well to head down a high ball to Messi but his captain’s shot was comfortably saved by Panicco. An error from the keeper minutes later almost led to another goal but the resulting shot from Suarez was cleared off the line as Miami intensified their attack.
Minutes later a Messi corner caught the Nashville defence napping and his former Barcelona teammate Sergio Basquest’s glancing header was enough to find the back of the net and put his side in front for the first time in the match as a chaotic first half came to a close.
The second half was a less frantic affair but there were still chances for both sides. Nashville created some openings, but they were largely restricted to long-range efforts from outside the box as Miami probed for another goal.
The game somewhat lost its shape as both sides searched for a way to unlock their opponent’s defensive backline. That is until Leonardo Afonso made a run into the Nashville box and was clumsily brought down by Bauer for a Miami penalty.
Who else but Leo Messi stepped up to take the spot kick and he made no mistake as he sealed the win for his side and took his goal tally for the season to seven.
As a contest, the game was over once Miami scored their third and despite Nashville’s best efforts, they never showed the firepower to overcome a Miami side that now sit two points clear at the top of the table. Gerardo Martino will look to extend his side’s unbeaten run when they take on New England on Saturday evening.
