Cristian Espinoza fired home the second-half goal that sent Nashville SC to the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals, knocking out Inter Miami on a milestone night for Lionel Messi.
The match ended 1-1 on the night in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., leaving the teams level 1-1 in the two-game, total-goal match. Nashville advanced on the away-goals tiebreaker.
Messi opened the scoring in the seventh minute with his 900th career goal for club and country, but reigning MLS Cup champion Miami couldn’t find the net again.
Nashville advance to meet either the Philadelphia Union or Mexico’s Club America in the quarterfinals.
The hosts got the necessary goal after a wild sequence in front of the Miami goal. Alex Muyl’s shot was blocked but bounced into the air and headed toward the goal line, where Herons goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair punched it away amid traffic. The rebound fell to an unmarked Espinoza, who fired a right-footed shot inside the far post.
Early on, Sergio Reguilon set up Messi for a 10-yard shot that crept between the legs of a Nashville defender on its way into the net.
Messi stands second in soccer history in career goals, behind only Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 965.
–Field Level Media
