Lionel Messi’s goal went in vain as Inter Miami were knocked out in the first round of MLS Playoffs with a second consecutive loss to Atlanta United on Sunday. Atlanta United, who entered the playoffs despite winning just 10 out of their 34 regular season matches and a negative goal difference, defeated Inter Miami 2-1 at the Chase Stadium.
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Inter need a victory on Sunday in the final match of the best-of-three series to advance, having lost to Atlanta 2-1 in Game 2. They won the first match
2-1 as Messi made his MLS Playoffs debut. In the final match, Inter opened the scoring in the 17th minute through Matias Rojas but Atlanta hit back in a whirlwind two minutes as Jamal Thiare scored twice (19’ and 21’) to give the lead to the underdogs.
Just when it looked like Inter Miami were going to be knocked out of the playoffs, Messi stepped up and scored the equaliser with a rare header in the 65th minute.
Inter Miami needed to hold on to the 2-2 scoreline to force a penalty shootout but Atlanta’s Bartosz Slisz changed the course of the match with a winner from a free header in the 76th minute as he launched a well-timed run into the box with Miami defenders seemingly looking too tired to mark the footballer.
Messi had a couple of chances towards the end of the match but both his freekicks hit the Atlanta wall.
“It’s everybody. It’s a joint effort,” Atlanta United interim coach Rob Valentino said. “We talked about it before the game, we talked about it all year long that it’s not going to be just one player. It’s a collective effort and that’s what happened tonight.
It’s a massive upset for Inter and Messi, not the least because Atlanta are No.9 seed as compared to Miami’s top seed, but also because the club has spent heavily on Messi, $20,446,667 just for this season which is $5 million more than Atlanta’s total salary budget.
Immediately after the loss, Messi stormed towards the dressing room, avoiding Atlanta’s celebration.
Atlanta United will now take on No. 4 seed Orlando City in the Eastern Conference semi-final, while No.6 New York City FC will be up against seventh-seeded New York Red Bulls in the other East semi-final.
