Tuesday night at Lower.com Field, the Columbus Crew overcame a two-goal deficit to halt Inter Miami CF’s Leagues Cup championship defense.
After falling down to goals from Miami’s Matías Rojas and Diego Gómez, the defending MLS Cup champions rallied behind goals from Christian Ramírez and Diego Rossi to win 3-2 and go to the quarterfinals.
Superstar Lionel Messi, who has been out since sustaining an ankle injury during Argentina’s Copa América final victory over Colombia last month, is still not playing for Miami.
Early in the first half, Rojas headed past Nicholas Hagen to give Miami a strong start to the match. After a ball from Luis Suárez, Gómez curled a beautiful shot into the far right corner, giving Gerardo Martino’s squad the appearance of being on their way to the quarterfinals.
“When one observes how the team competes today against Columbus,” Martino said. “The truth is that, as a club that was previously a Concacaf Champions finalist, we can’t help but be really happy with how we stand at the home of the previous winner.
However, the third-placed Crew in the MLS Eastern Conference—particularly strong at home under head coach Wilfried Nancy—came roaring back, with goals from Rossi and Ramírez within minutes to tie the score and another from Rossi, who slid the ball home from a challenging angle to complete the victory.
The Crew will play New York City FC in the quarterfinals, while Miami, the winners of the inaugural Leagues Cup last year, will have a break before returning to MLS action on August 24 against FC Cincinnati, their fiercest rivals.
“Today, even after a defeat, we will continue trying to achieve some title in the local league, which is what remains,” Martino said. “But I cannot accept that all this is measured based on whether you won or lost, I accept it because they are the rules of the game.”