On Saturday night 72,610 people packed Arrowhead Stadium to see Lionel Messi. Messi helped lead his Inter Miami side to a 3-2 victory over Sporting Kansas City 3-2. It was a match where Inter Miami looked beatable, but Sporting KC was far from their best. Here is my breakdown of the match.
Erik Thommy Shines
Erik Thommy put in a top level performance for Sporting Kansas City. He opened up the scoring in the 6th minute with a beautiful strike beating the Inter Miami keeper at the bottom left corner. He played quite well defensively helping cover ground on the right hand side to support Jake Davis. Miami led early in the second half and Thommy fired home his second goal of the night in the 58th minute. His second goal was perfectly hit on a high volley where the ball seemed to stay in the air for a long time. His clean hit leveled the match for Sporting, but unfortunately his side would eventually fall short in the end.
Messi Is Still Great
Lionel Messi is still one of the best players in the world. Seeing his brilliance in person only helps add respect and appreciation for his game. He showed off his skills of vision and passing with a beautiful pass to assist Diego Gomez on Miami’s first goal of the night. It seemed like most of the positive team movement that Miami had ran through Messi who continuously had perfectly weighted passes to send players on the attack.
Before the match I told my friends that I wanted to see a Messi goalazo. In all honesty, I wanted to see one with Sporting comfortably in the lead. I half got what I wanted early in the second half. In the 51st minute he found space in the leaky Sporting defense and fired a screamer from about 25 yards out. Tim Melia had no chance to save that shot and the crowd at Arrowhead erupted with cheers as everyone got to see a classic Messi goalazo. I couldn’t be mad at the strike as the shot was absolutely brilliant. I was just happy to see it in person.
Remi Walter Injury Hurts Sporting
Remi Walter has been a stabilizing force in the Sporting midfield this season. He was doing a solid job in this match dealing with a potent attack from Inter Miami. Unfortunately Remi got hurt late in the first half and had to be subbed of for Felipe Hernandez in the 45th plus 1 minute into stoppage time. I’m not exactly how or what got hurt for Remi, but he had to be helped off the pitch unable to fully walk under his own power. Hernandez has good pace, but Remi is a better midfield option all around. I hope his injury isn’t a bad one and that he recovers fully and quickly.
Self Inflicted Damage Dooms Sporting
Jake Davis is a really solid defender. Ever since he took over starting for the now retired Graham Zusi Sporting has been more solid at the back. In the 71st minute Tim Melia played a short ball to Jake Davis who immediately found himself under pressure. Melia played a lot of short balls that found his guys under pressure deep in their own zone all night. Jake unfortunately didn’t handle the pressure well and gave the ball away with Melia out of position to properly defend. The ball landed at the feet of Luis Suarez who scored on a wide open net from just feet away. This costly mistake would be the mistake that eventually doomed Sporting on the night. It was a self inflicted wound that could have easily been avoided.
Pulido Looks Slow
Last season Alan Pulido was awesome and played his way to MLS Comeback Player of the Year. Sporting KC rewarded him by giving him a new contract last September. This year he has looked like he has lost a step in his game. He has been slow and sluggish on and off the ball all season. Now, this game he did seem to move better off the ball, especially in the second half. He still seemed slow and found himself behind the play time and time again. I’m not sure if he is still at a good enough quality to be a starter, but I feel he could be used as a solid sub until he gets back to his top form.
Vermes Makes Changes Too Late
Peter Vermes has been criticized in the past for making changes too late in the match. I feel like this is a complaint one could make for this match as well. The Sporting attack looked like they needed fresh legs halfway through the second half. I would have made a change after Miami took the lead in the 71st minute. Vermes waited and then only brought Johnny Russell on for Erik Thommy in the 84th minute. That was too little too late as Miami already had a stranglehold on the match at that point. I would have brought Johnny on about 10 minutes earlier. I also would have brought Alenis Vargas on, but Vermes left him unused in this one.
Inter Miami Is Good, But Not That Good
Inter Miami is a squad full of star power. Messi is back with some of his teammates he played with at Barcelona years ago. It is a fun and entertaining squad to watch. They have a good attack, but their back line is not that good at all. They looked very beatable, but Sporting played a relatively poor match and just did not have enough to beat Miami on this night. If Sporting had played their best match, I feel that Sporting could’ve taken all 3 points in this one. Hopefully the Sporting players can go back and look at this one as a learning experience.
Next Up: Sporting stays at home, but returns to Children’s Mercy Park next weekend to face cross state rivals St. Louis City next Saturday.
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