By Canadian Press

CF Montreal beats Miami 3-2 with Messi watching from sideline

Mar 10, 2024 | 5:45 PM

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Lionel Messi wore street clothes and watched from a sideline box as Montreal took advantage of several Inter Miami defensive miscues to hand his team its first loss of the Major League Soccer season — a 3-2 defeat at home Sunday.

Messi did not play against Montreal after previously being listed as questionable with a shin injury.

The injury happened in a 2-2 draw at Nashville in the CONCACAF Champions Cup last week. Messi went to contest a pass from Nashville’s Lukas Macnaughton, who appeared to step on the 36-year-old’s calf and cause his left ankle to twist. Trainers tended to Messi as he writhed in pain on the pitch in the 77th minute, but he remained in the match.

Inter Miami assistant coach Javier Morales said Messi left the game with a bruise.

Resting the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner makes sense — Inter Miami will play two more games over the next six days. That’s four games in a 10-day stretch. And Messi was called up to represent the Argentinian national team in a pair of Copa America warm-up matches on March 22 and 26, which could mean potentially six matches in 20 days for the veteran who had played in all four of Inter Miami’s games in the 2024 season.

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Leonarda Campana scored the tying goal for Miami in the 71st minute Sunday after Montreal took a 1-0 lead early in the first half on a header from Fernando Álvarez. Off a cross from Lawson Sunderland, Campana injected life into the crowd at Chase Stadium when he sent a header into the bottom left corner of the net.

But in a game that was one of Inter Miami’s sloppiest of the season, Montreal took a two-goal lead with scores from Matías Cóccaro and Sunusi Ibrahim in less than a five-minute span.

It was Inter Miami’s first loss of the young season, despite having chances down the stretch. Jordi Alba sent a left-footed shot from outside the box into the top left corner to make it 3-2.

CF Montreal improved to two wins and a tie in three MLS outings.

Inter Miami will face Nashville again on Wednesday in the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16 matchup.

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AP MLS: https://apnews.com/hub/major-league-soccer

Alanis Thames, The Associated Press