Inter Miami 3-1 Orlando City: Messi masterminds Leagues Cup semi-final comeback
Two late goals from Lionel Messi helped Inter Miami reach their second Leagues Cup final, in which they will face the Seattle Sounders.
Lionel Messi scored twice as Inter Miami launched a stirring fightback in the final 13 minutes to beat 10-man Orlando City 3-1 and punch their ticket to the Leagues Cup final.
Miami were staring at a semi-final defeat at 1-0 down with 77 minutes played, but Messi marked his return from a muscle injury with two crucial goals as Javier Mascherano's team rallied.
After Martin Ojeda and Rodrigo De Paul went close at either end, Orlando missed a glaring chance in the 23rd minute as Ivan Angulo rolled his shot wide when clean through.
But the visitors did break through in first-half stoppage time, with Marco Pasalic firing into the roof of the net after Maximiliano Falcon's clearance rebounded off him.
Miami struggled to make any headway early in the second half, but the game turned in the 75th minute as David Brekalo – who had already been booked – was caught on the wrong side of Tadeo Allende inside the box and hauled him down.
Brekalo was shown his second yellow card, and Messi stroked the resulting penalty into the bottom-right corner for 1-1.
Orlando clung on with 10 men until the 88th minute, when Messi showed great feet inside a crowded penalty area, exchanged passes with Jordi Alba, then finished across Pedro Gallese.
And there was still time for a clinching goal as substitute Telasco Segovia slotted home after being played in by Luis Suarez one minute into stoppage time.
Miami's opponents in Sunday's final will be the Seattle Sounders, who will welcome the Herons to Lumen Field after beating the LA Galaxy 2-0 in Wednesday's other semi-final.
Pedro de la Vega drilled in Seattle's opener following a goalmouth scramble in the seventh minute, with Andrew Thomas making two big first-half saves to preserve their lead.
Osaze De Rosario scored an excellent solo goal to make it 2-0 early in the second half, and despite having Nouhou Tolo sent off for a wild lunge on Gabriel Pec late on, the Sounders held firm for a deserved victory.
Data Debrief: Leagues Cup specialists
Until now, no one team had played in multiple Leagues Cup finals, with eight different clubs featuring in the four showpieces.
They were Cruz Azul, Tigres UANL, Leon, Seattle, Miami, Nashville SC, the Columbus Crew and Los Angeles FC.
However, Seattle and Miami will each feature in their second final each on Sunday, with the latter hoping to become the first repeat victors.
It was Messi's brace that turned their semi-final around, and he is now within one goal of Denis Bouanga for the all-time Leagues Cup record, which stands at 13.
