Lionel Messi erupted for two goals and an assist inside the final 15 minutes, leading Inter Miami to a 3-1 victory over 10-man Orlando City in a Leagues Cup semifinal on Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Telasco Segovia added the other goal for Miami, which is into the final for the second time in three years. The Herons will play the final on the road against the Seattle Sounders on Sunday, with the winner guaranteed a place in the round of 16 in the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Seattle beat the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0 in the second semifinal on Wednesday.
Miami won the 2023 Leagues Cup, defeating Nashville on penalties after a 1-1 draw in a final played in Tennessee.
Marco Pasalic scored in first-half stoppage time for Orlando, which had defeated Miami twice in league play this season.
However, the Lions were reduced to 10 men in the game’s pivotal moment that served as the start of Miami’s rally and the setup for Messi’s first goal of the competition.
In the 74th minute, the Herons’ Tadeo Allende earned a penalty kick when he got behind David Brekalo and directed a header at goal. Pedro Gallese saved the header, but referee Walter Lopez ruled that Brekalo had pulled Allende back.
Brekalo received his second yellow of the night and was sent off. Messi eventually stepped up to convert the opportunity in the 77th minute, shooting low to the right, with Gallese guessing correctly but not in time to reach it.
Messi won it from open play 11 minutes later. As he did so many times when the pair played together at FC Barcelona, Messi and Jordi Alba combined down the right to unlock Orlando’s short-handed defense, then finished into the same bottom right corner from close range.
He wasn’t finished. Only minutes after the restart, Messi played yet another combination with Segovia, this time with the Venezuelan finishing in close early in second-half stoppage time.
Pasalic put Orlando on top just before halftime.
Cesar Araujo, Martin Ojeda and Luis Muriel all combined before playing a pass that sprung Pasalic into the penalty area.
Pasalic was briefly dispossessed by Maximiliano Falcon, but Falcon’s clearance attempt bounded off Pasalic’s chest, then fell nicely for Pasalic to hammer a half-volley past Oscar Ustari and inside the right post.
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