Sunday, April 19th 2026
Lionel Messi gave new Inter Miami coach Guillermo Hoyos a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rapids, scoring twice, including a spectacular goal in the final minutes, in front of 75,000 fans in Major League Soccer on Saturday.
The game was played at the giant NFL stadium in Denver to cope with the huge demand from fans to see the Argentine icon, world champion. The match seemed to be going in Colorado’s favor, as the locals came back strongly from the 0-2 deficit.
But Messi, who had scored earlier from the penalty, had other plans. With just over 10 minutes remaining, he ran onto a long ball sent down the right by Rodrigo De Paul.
He broke into the area and managed to find space to shoot with his preferred left, weaving between three defenders and the goalkeeper to send the ball into the net.
The win gave Hoyos a successful debut as Miami coach after Javier Mascherano left the club for “reasons”. personal” on Tuesday, just four months after leading the team to its first MLS title.
“We have the greatest player in history, someone who completely changes the flow of games,” said an elated Hoyos.
Hoyos, 62, made few changes to the lineup, bringing on Germán Berterame in place of Tadeo Allende, who continues his recovery from injury. muscular.
The win moves Inter Miami up to second place in the Eastern Conference.
“This continues the work we’ve done and the progression of the team — we’re the reigning MLS champions. We’re a strong unit,” Hoyos added.
“Just look at the energy that Inter Miami generates — how much they’ve had to move into a bigger stadium to handle it — and compare it to the quiet humility with which we’ve always worked,” he said. in Spanish.
Playing in front of 75,824 fans — the second-largest crowd in MLS history — Miami started the game slowly, but were presented with a golden opportunity.
As Colorado struggled to break out of Miami’s pressure defense, Josh Atencio drew a penalty by tripping Yannick Bright in the box.
After a lengthy VAR check, Messi converted the penalty with calm in the center as the keeper dived to the left.
Colorado continued to keep possession, but without creating any serious danger.
Just before the end of the first half, the Rapids lost the ball in their own half. A short pass from Messi allowed Mateo Silvetti to cross for Berterame, who headed in from close range.
In the second half, Colorado came back into the game.
Just before the 60th minute, Rafael Navarro received the ball in his own half, broke through the middle and with a smart move passed a defender to score in the bottom right corner.
Colorado coach, Matt Wells reacted immediately by bringing on striker Darren Yapi for Hamzat Ojediran.
Just four minutes after the first goal, a long accurate ball from Lucas Herrington found Yapi on a diagonal run, who scored the equalizer for the Rapids.
However, Messi halted the home team’s comeback with his decisive moment at the end.
The match ended on a negative note as Bright sent off with a red card for using offensive language while protesting against a yellow card for his teammate, Telasco Segovia.
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Source: prizrenpost
