Messi entered the field in the second half, Inter Miami's winning streak ended

The reason Messi sat on the bench with Jordi Alba and Suarez was because the Mercedes-Benz pitch was artificial. Sergio Busquets was also absent due to a suspension. At the Copa America, the pitch was temporarily covered with natural grass for the match. Messi and the Argentina team played the opening match here, defeating Canada 2-0.

Fans follow Messi while sitting on the bench

He only entered the field in the second half when his team Inter Miami was leading 2-1.

In addition to this reason, Inter Miami has to go through 3 consecutive matches in the near future, forcing coach Tata Martino to rotate players. Thereby, also to avoid overload, unfortunate injuries occurring at the key stage of the season. Messi and Suarez are players who are very susceptible to this situation if they play continuously, due to their age and injury history.

Despite playing with a team with many substitutes, Inter Miami still maintained a balanced match against the home team Atlanta United, who played with great determination. The turning point came in the 29th minute, when Inter Miami players launched a quick attack to open the score at 1-0. Left-back Franco Negri's sudden movement into the center opened up a through pass for David Ruiz to run down and receive the ball, before unleashing a dangerous shot in the penalty area to defeat goalkeeper Brad Guzan to score.

This goal greatly boosted the morale of the Inter Miami players. But right at the beginning of the second half, Atlanta United's strong rise helped them equalize the score 1-1 in the 56th minute thanks to Saba Lobjanidze. In the 59th minute, striker Leonardo Campana's free kick hit an Atlanta United player's foot, changing the direction of the ball, unexpectedly scoring to raise the score to 2-1 for Inter Miami.

Inter Miami dropped the victory, even though Messi entered the field in the second half

From the 61st minute, coach Tata Martino sent Messi, Suarez, Jordi Alba and Federico Redondo onto the field to keep the game in play and the score was favorable for Inter Miami. However, the presence of these stars actually helped Atlanta United players play with more determination, when they faced the world's top players.

In the 30 minutes he was on the pitch, Messi helped Inter Miami increase their attacking power significantly. However, the defense also revealed many holes and gaps when they pushed forward to find another goal to end the match. In one of these situations, Inter Miami allowed Atlanta United to counterattack, and they paid the price in the 84th minute when Alexey Miranchuk scored a beautiful goal to equalize the score at 2-2 for the home team.

By drawing with Atlanta United, Inter Miami ended their five-match winning streak. But Messi's team still holds the top spot in the MLS standings with 63 points after 29 matches. Inter Miami's next match is away to New York City FC at 1:00 a.m. on September 22. Before returning home to face Charlotte FC at 6:30 a.m. on September 29.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/messi-vao-san-hiep-2-inter-miami-dut-mach-toan-thang-185240919090554846.htm