Fort Lauderdale (United States) (AFP) – Lionel Messi watched from the bench as 10-man Inter Miami held on for a 1-0 win over Charlotte FC in Major League Soccer on Sunday. The Argentine was not used by coach Javier Mascherano in a game where Miami spent much of the time on the back foot after goalkeeper Oscar Ustari was sent off in the 38th minute. It marked the third straight game that Messi failed to feature for Miami after he did not travel to Houston for last week’s 4-1 win in MLS and then watched the 2-0 victory over Jamaica’s Cavalier in the CONCACAF Champions Cup first-leg game on Thursday.
Mascherano has said he is managing the workload of the 37-year-old World Cup winner and while his absence has been a disappointment for fans, Miami have not paid a price on the field. Charlotte, coached by Englishman Dean Smith, the former Aston Villa manager, were the better team throughout the encounter but proved unable to convert their plentiful possession into real goal chances. The visitors offered early indicators of where their threats lay, with Wilfried Zaha, the former Crystal Palace winger, showing flashes of his skill on the left flank while Israeli winger Liel Abada’s pace was evident on the opposite wing.
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Miami were creating little, with Ashley Westwood dictating play in the centre of midfield for the North Carolina side, and they found themselves in trouble when Ustari received a straight red after he raced off his line and brought down Zaha. The teams went in goalless at the break but it took just seconds for Miami to strike after the interval with a delightfully constructed goal. Tadeo Allende back-heeled to Luis Suarez and the veteran returned the ball with a chip which the Argentine chested down and then buried into the bottom corner. It was the fourth goal this season, in all competitions for Allende who joined Miami on loan from Spanish club Celta Vigo.
Miami opted to defend their lead, sitting deep and in numbers, frustrating Charlotte who struggled to break through their defence. Their best chance came in the 65th minute when Zaha whipped in a wicked cross from the left but Patrick Agyemang’s glancing header flashed wide of the post. The crowd chanted for a Messi cameo, but Mascherano opted for defensive changes as the South Florida side held firm to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
“Well, the truth is that in the case of Leo, we had thought of giving him minutes at some point in the game, but when we went a men down and with him having been out for so long, we thought it was best to keep him (on the bench) and not take any risks in that case,” said Mascherano, who did not explain what would be ‘risked’ by Messi. There has been no clear indication of any injury for Messi with medical staff understood to be concerned about ‘overload’ on his muscles from the intense start of the season, resulting in the cautious approach from his coach.
But without Messi, his compatriot Allende is quickly establishing himself as a new crowd favourite with Mascherano praising him for the goal. “I think it was all the genius of Tadeo and Luis, the ingenuity that footballers often have and that means in one play they can end up deciding a match,” said the former Barcelona and Liverpool midfielder. The Argentine praised the way his team are coping with a busy start to the season with domestic and CONCACAF duties.
“We showed a lot of team spirit and we need more of that to keep working together, working hard,” he said. “It’s not easy, we are playing every three, four days. We are tired, the squad is not too long (deep), we have some injuries, but we keep going forward. In football, we have two ways, excuses or results.”
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