A magical night for Jordi Alba, omnipresent with four assists, led Inter Miami against Toronto (4-3) to secure a ticket to the round of 16 of the Leagues Cup on Thursday.
Two goals by Paraguayan Matías Rojas, another by his compatriot Diego Gómez and one more by Uruguayan Luis Suárez, were the arguments for Miami’s rout, which was answered at times by penalty goals by the Canadians, both converted by Italian Lorenzo Insigne.
Leo Messi watched the match from his private box, finalising his recovery, which could come back in Inter’s next match.
The unusual and cold atmosphere at Chase Stadium, with a low attendance and many empty sections of the stands, was quickly heated up by a very early goal. Matías Rojas took advantage of a cross from the left by Alba, who added a new assist to his long list of the season, and fired a cross shot.
The first few minutes were a succession of opportunities for Inter Miami, and the second one to find the net didn’t take long to arrive either. It was in the 11th minute, in this case another Paraguayan, Diego Gómez, showed that he is back in Olympic form.
Once again Alba found the forwards and received the ball in the central corridor, but the former Libertad player did not think twice, firing in with his right foot from the edge of the box to extend the lead on the scoreboard.
Just four minutes later, Toronto saw the light. Chelo Weigandt made a mistake and tripped Derick Etienne, who had no options left, inside the box. A clear penalty that put Toronto back in the game, because Insigne did not forgive and completely fooled Callender.
The positive was overshadowed by Filippo Bernardeschi’s injury, which forced him to withdraw and left his team without any football. And as bad news never comes alone, Inter extended their lead thanks to Luis Suárez.
Once again Alba was creating play and making the pass, although it was a gesture without the ball from the ‘pistolero’ that enabled him to trick the defender and finish at ease. It is his second goal in the two Leagues Cup matches he has played, number 14 with Inter Miami.
That the first half would not give any respite was demonstrated by the expulsion of David Martínez in the 25th minute, who was initially shown a yellow card and given a penalty, but after consulting the VAR it was shown that the contact was outside the area, with the consequent red card.
Being one man down changed the way the home team approached the match, becoming more conservative and giving the lead role with the ball to the Canadians.
Another penalty in the 37th minute sent Insigne to the spot to give his team more breathing room. This time Callender did guess the Italian’s shot but was unable to clear it.
With the score at 3-2 in favour of the home team, they headed to the locker room, a first respite from the madness that this match gave its protagonists.
Gerardo Martino made a strategic change in the midfield, bringing on Yannick Bright for Julian Gressel, and it worked so that despite being outnumbered, the pink team dominated the game and created danger.
A touch of the ball by the home team gave way to Alba passing the ball to Matías Rojas ten metres from the edge of the box, who took out his rifle to score his seventh goal in pink, with a very powerful shot to which Sean Johnson had no response.
With a two-goal lead, Martino sent his team back, leaving only Luis Suárez as a point of reference and threat up front.
When the match seemed over, with 12 minutes remaining, Insigne lifted a ball from the left for Etienne to head in, helped by the touch on the back of Noah Allen, who beat Callender and made the score 4-3.
But Inter knew how to keep the game to sleep until the final whistle.
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