MIAMI – The Houston Dynamo defeated Inter Miami 2-1 to win the US Open Cup on Wednesday with an injured Lionel Messi watching from the stands at DRV PNK Stadium.
Without the Argentinian superstar and his former Barcelona teammate Jordi Alba, Miami struggled to compete with an enterprising Houston and could have little to complain about the outcome.
Miami co-owner David Beckham, who watched the game with his former Real Madrid teammate Zinedine Zidane, had hoped for another night of celebration in Fort Lauderdale after the team’s Leagues Cup triumph in August.
But Miami lacked intensity and ideas as they were given the runaround by Ben Olsen’s impressive Houston team.
No clear explanation has been given for Messi’s injury, with references to “muscle fatigue” followed by talk from coach Gerardo Martino of “scars” from an old injury.
“It was not prudent for him to play. We couldn’t even consider playing him for a few minutes because we would be taking risks,” said Martino after the match.
The former Barcelona and Argentina coach added that he expected Messi to feature at some stage in the upcoming five games that remain for Miami in the Major League Soccer regular season.
“He will certainly play before the league is over. We will go match by match and see how things are coming along and if the medical department can give him the OK to play without any risks,” he said.
With no Messi to worry about, Houston were on top from the outset, moving the ball around with confidence and purpose while Miami struggled to get a foothold.
They grabbed the lead in the 24th minute with a perfect counter-attack, ending with Brazilian Artur feeding the overlapping Griffin Dorsey who blasted in at the near post. It was not long before they had doubled their advantage, as French forward Amine Bassi made no mistake with his penalty to make it 2-0.
Martino made two changes at the break, bringing on striker Josef Martinez and midfielder Dixon Arroyo.
Martinez gave Miami some late hope with a left-foot strike in stoppage time but it was too little, too late and Houston deservedly won their second US Open Cup to add to their triumph in 2018.
Olsen said his team had exploited the absence of Messi and Alba.
“We prepared all week for Messi and Alba and, let’s be honest, they are a different team (with them). I think they missed him and they missed Alba,” he said. AFP