Nashville SC held Inter Miami CF to a 0-0 draw within the first leg of its Concacaf Champions Cup round-of-16 match with the defending MLS champions on Wednesday night time at GEODIS Park.
The groups will meet once more on March 18 at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale to resolve which squad advances to the quarterfinal spherical.
The consequence means Miami star Lionel Messi remains to be one aim shy of the 900 mark, after netting his 899th on Saturday towards D.C. United.
Messi, who got here into the sport trying to be a part of Ronaldo as the one different participant to attain 900 targets for membership and nation, got here shut early within the second half however was denied by Nashville keeper Brian Schwake.
Entering the competition, Messi had scored in six straight video games towards Nashville, relationship to April 20, 2024, posting 12 targets and 5 assists in that stretch. He was held with out a level for the second time in 4 video games after being held off the scoresheet in a 3-0 loss to LAFC on Feb. 21.
Messi’s one shot on track was his lowest single-game shot complete since Nov. 29, within the MLS Cup Eastern Conference remaining towards New York City FC. In that recreation, he had no pictures on aim , however did have an help in Inter Miami’s 5-1 win.
Miami dominated possession, controlling the ball for 59% of the sport. However, Nashville was proactive when it had the ball, recording 15 complete pictures to Miami’s eight, 4 of which have been on track.
“The team played a good game, especially in terms of defensive organization, preventing Nashville from playing comfortably,” Miami coach Javier Mascherano stated.
“It’s never easy coming here; we knew that beforehand. And well, now we wait for next Wednesday with our fans to see if we can close out the tie and advance to the quarterfinals.”
Nashville’s greatest probability got here off a nook from Cristian Espinoza within the sixty fifth minute. His throw-in discovered Reed Baker-Whiting within the field. However, Baker-Whiting despatched a header simply over the crossbar.
Inter Miami’s Maximiliano Falcón was injured within the seventh minute and left the sport. He was changed by Gonzalo Luján.
“Regarding Maxi [Falcon], we don’t know; it’s very recent. He’ll have to undergo tests,” Mascherano stated. “Hopefully, it will be as minor as possible. He’s a strong player, but the fact that he has to come off means there’s something wrong.”
The winner of the Nashville-Miami sequence will face both Club América or the Philadelphia Union in quarterfinals. Club América defeated Philadelphia 1-0 on Wednesday in Chester, Pennsylvania. The elimination recreation might be held on March 18 in Mexico City.
Winners within the Champions Cup are selected combination targets, with the group scoring essentially the most targets over two video games advancing. If Nashville and Miami are scoreless on the finish of 90 minutes of their subsequent recreation, the groups will go into further time after which penalty kicks.
Miami will start enjoying at Nu Stadium — the group’s new 26,700-seat facility — on April 4 towards Austin FC.
Information from The Associated Press was used on this story.
