Lionel Messi's first-half brace led Inter Miami to the 2024 MLS Supporters' Shield title over the Columbus Crew on Wednesday.
Supporters' Shield in a thrilling 3-2 win at the Columbus Crew on Wednesday. It's the first ever Supporters' Shield for the club.Miami entered the road match with the points advantage over Columbus in the Eastern Conference, but took a while to get settled in.Messi, in particular, had a tough time getting involved. He'd get on the ball, but he'd struggle to hold it up or he'd lose possession with an errant pass.
His first goal came after bringing down Jordi Alba's route one pass, getting lucky with the deflections and tapping it past American goalie Patrick Schulte.Then a few minutes later in first-half added time, Luis Suarez drew a foul on the left edge of the penalty box. The angle didn't suit an inswinging free-kick attempt for Messi. But angles don't always matter for GOATs.
Miami failed to capitalize on the man advantage, however. The Crew asserted their dominance on the ball and kept pushing, eventually generating another penalty after a second Miami handball. But this time, Cucho's shot was saved by American goalie Drake Callender.Columbus remained dominant with the ball and caused waves of pressure on Miami's defense through the 10 minutes of added time, but eventually couldn't net the equalizer.
The Supporters' Shield is awarded to the MLS team with the best record/most points accumulated in the regular season. The Crew were alive in the race, while Los Angeles Galaxy had an outside shot as the leaders out West.
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