Lionel Messi scores but favorites Inter Miami were eliminated from the MLS Cup playoffs by Atlanta United

Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami were swept out of the MLS Cup playoffs on Saturday night after a 3-2 defeat in the third leg of their first round clash.

Miami had won the first game, but lost the second to Atlanta, forcing a decisive third game.

Former Le Havre striker Jamal Thiare hit the post in the 14th minute, but it was the home side who opened the scoring.

Just three minutes after Thiare’s chance went begging, Messi saw a powerful shot parried by former US goalkeeper Brad Guzan onto Paraguayan winger Matias Rojas.

Rojas smashed in the opener from an acute angle, but Thiare then scored two goals in three minutes to turn the game on its head.

His first was an unstoppable strike from the edge of the box that blasted past goalkeeper Drake Callender.

The second saw Miami’s defense badly exposed by a simple ball over the top.

Paraguay international Diego Gomez looked to have equalized for the home side, getting a neat finish under Guzan, but VAR intervened to rule the goal out for offside.

Messi was then denied by a brilliant diving save from Guzan as Miami continued to chase an equaliser.

Then Luis Suarez, looking unrecognizable with bleached blonde hair, saw his audacious attempt at an overhead kick saved.

The second half began with a not-so-believable Guzan save. The American somehow beat a well-aimed Jordi Alba header away from danger and Suarez couldn’t reach the loose ball.

Miami’s equalizer finally came in the 65th minute when Messi, surrounded by four Atlanta defenders, rose highest to head home from close range. Guzan then found himself tangled in the net while Suarez took the chance to share some opinions rather enthusiastically.

Ten minutes later came the key moment of the match. With defender Tomas Aviles down in the box and the Miami players appealing to the referee to stop the play, an Atlanta punt floated into the box.

No header was there to meet it, but Portuguese left-back Pedro Amador arrived on the wing to float in another cross. Still, the Miami players furiously waved for the game to be stopped, but Bartosz Slisz blew the whistle and put in the decisive blow. heading.

Miami pushed for another equalizer as two chances were cleared off the line, but Atlanta held on for a stunning upset.

Inter Miami had finished the season with a record 73 points and won both the MLS Supporters’ Shield and the Eastern Conference, but Atlanta had been one of only four teams to beat them in the regular season.

Atlanta advance to the Conference semi-finals, where they will face Orlando City, while Messi’s second season in the United States ends in disappointment.

Former Argentina and Barcelona coach Tata Martino was cautious after the game. He said: “This season has had good things and bad things.

“If you think about the expectations we had for this playoff, we obviously fell a bit short. The players are upset, as they should be, when there are so many expectations and the team cannot fulfill them. In this final part of the year we got used to achieving the goals, but we couldn’t achieve the most important thing.”

Spanish legend Alba was frustrated.

He said: “It was a good season, but what we wanted was to win this one more. In my opinion, I’m not the one who’s going to change now. This format seems a bit unfair to me. It’s clear that it’s been done this way for many years, but if you ask me, if it was up to me, I should be the champion of one conference against the champion of the other, to make it as fair as possible, that’s how it is is. I repeat, congratulations on that rival teams.”