Inter Miami demolish Cincinnati with their lethal attack

FC Cincinnati 0 – 4 Inter Miami

CINCINNATI, OH–It was another dominant performance from Inter Miami that saw them overpower Cincinnati and cruise to the next round of the competition.

Lionel Messi was pulling the strings as usual with a goal and three assists as his goal involvement figures continue to set standards.

But it could have been quite different had the home side brought their shooting boots. The Herons found themselves on the back foot in the opening minutes of the match as Cincinnati made their intentions clear from the offset.

Cincinnati had six shots inside the first fifteen minutes and had some good chances to open the scoring, but they were foiled by Miami’s last line of defence, and their own poor finishing.

And as is often the case, the team under pressure pounced. Jordi Alba broke up the play by moving into midfield to steal a loose pass and start the attack.

The ball found its way down the left wing to Mateo Silvetti who had been given the nod by Javier Mascherano ahead of Luis Suarez, and his perfect cross found the head of Lionel Messi to head home and completely stun the home crowd.

Just moments later Ender Echenique had a glorious chance to pull one back, but after doing the hard work to get there, he shot wide when he should have made the keeper work.

From then on in, Miami seemed to grow in confidence and started to dominate. It was end to end action at times and Miami could have had a second when Messi played in Tadeo Allende, but the young attacker couldn’t collect the pass.

Baltazar Rodriguez went close and then Messi himself put a good chance past the post as the Herons laid siege to the Cincinnati goal.

The game had changed dramatically from the opening when Miami had to cope with the opening pressure, but the home side didn’t maintain it, and Miami started to find their feet.

They had the ball and were playing it around comfortably, which is when they are at their best and most dangerous.

Cincinnati came out in the second half like they did in the first, on the front foot. But that early confidence was quickly undone when Miami took a quick throw in.

Allende found Messi and the captain played in Silvetti and the young attacker struck a beautiful shot into the far corner and double his sides lead.

The home sides heads dropped and if they weren’t beaten at that stage, they were five minutes later when Messi did it again.

He robbed Evander of the ball close to his own area and started an attack. He then played in his fellow Argentine Allende to run at goal and deliver the killer blow to secure the win.

But they weren’t done yet. Another sublime pass from Messi to Allende saw the youngster running at goal, and he made no mistake to pile on the agony for the Cincinnati fans.

Messi and Rodrigo De Paul had chances late on but couldn’t add the polish to a fabulous display. Four-nil was flattering, five would have been harsh on Cincinnati, who will feel disappointed not to have put up a better fight.

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