Inter Miami 3-1 Sporting Kansas City HIGHLIGHTS, CONCACAF Champions Cup: Miami through to Round of 16 with 4-1 aggregate win; Messi, Suarez, Allende on target

Inter Miami 3-1 Sporting Kansas City HIGHLIGHTS, CONCACAF Champions Cup: Miami through to Round of 16 with 4-1 aggregate win; Messi, Suarez, Allende on target

Inter Miami wins 3-1 and progresses to the Round of 16 with an overall aggregate score of 4-1 against Sporting Kansas City. 

Miami will face Jamaican club Cavalier, the Caribbean Cup champions, in the next round with the first leg to be played in Florida in the first week of March.

Four minutes added at the end of the second-half!

Sporting KC Booking: The match has seen its first yellow card towards the end as Robert Voloder goes inside the referee’s book for his late challenge on Allende.

Sporting KC subs: IN- Alexander James OUT- Rosero

James, who is 16 years old, is the club’s fourth-youngest signing of all-time and enters for his first senior appearance. Not the best circumstances to make his debut but a special moment for the youngster. 

Inter Miami subs: IN- Taylor, Ruiz, Lujan OUT- Suarez, Busquets, Falcon

As expected, Miami is not doing much attacking at the moment and is content sitting behind and protecting their lead. It is a wise choice given the scoreline and also in terms of preserving energy for the upcoming matches. 

Sporting KC sub: IN- Brody OUT- Davis

Inter Miami sub: IN- Cremaschi OUT- Messi

That is curtains for the Inter Miami captain as he makes his way off the pitch. With the win almost secured, it is natural head coach Javier Mascherano would want to rest his best player. 

Memo Rodriguez, who came on a few minutes back, as given Sporting Kansas its first goal of the 2025 season. He does enjoy a stroke of luck as his shot takes a massive deflection off Falcon and completely wrongfoots Ustari but Kansas will take anything at the moment. 

Sporting Kansas City subs: IN- Salloi, Rodriguez, Agada OUT- Suleymanov, Garcia, Joveljic

Inter Miami sub: IN- Allen OUT- Aviles

Inter Miami would have got its fourth and Messi, his second of the match but Pulskamp pulls off a briilliant save to deny the Inter Miami captain. Allende finds Messi with a well-measured ball over the top as the Argentine races inside the box. With the entire goal to aim at, Messi gets his shot away but the Sporting KC keeper saves it.

The urgency is very clear in the Sporting KC unit early in the second-half. It will take a mammoth effort for the team to come back into the clash. 

Inter Miami enjoys a 3-0 lead as the second-half gets underway at the Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale in Florida. Lionel Messi and Co. lead 4-0 on aggregate. 

Goals from Messi, Allende and Suarez keep Inter Miami in a 3-0 lead against Sporting Kansas City and 4-0 up on aggregate as the referee blows his whistle for half-time. 

Jake Davis completely miscues his kick and Suarez enjoys a stroke of luck as the ball falls straight to him. He does well to shake off the pressure from the defence and then shows his composure to shoot the ball past Sporting keeper John Pulskamp and find the far corner of the net. 

Inter Miami is 3-0 up in this match and 4-0 up on aggregate. Barring a horrible clash, the Herons will be marching onto the Round of 16. 

Messi threads an excellent pass to Jordi Alba on the left. He makes his way inside the box and sends a low cross at the front-post. Allende makes a timely run to reach the ball and tap the ball inside the net with a simple finish.

Joveljic’s put the ball at the back of the net but the celebrations are cut short as the assistant referee raises the offside flag. It looked like a tight one but the replay shows that the decision is correct. Joveljic was just ahead of Ian Fray before receiving the pass and rattling the net. 

The game hasn’t had much in the first half apart from that Messi goal and Falcon’s goalline block. Despite the lead, Sporting looks the better attacking side as match edges towards the break. 

A close shave for Inter Miami as Falcon makes a goalline clearance. Kansas ha its best chance of the match as Dejan Joveljic takes a shot from inside the box following a melee. The effort beats Miami custodian Oscar Ustari but Falcon is there in the right place at the right time to make the clearance.

Inter Miami breaks on a counter-attack after Sporting KC gives the ball away from a freekick. Luis Suarez, from the left side of the penalty box, sends a looping cross and finds Messi, who controls the ball with his chest and rattles the net with a sumptuous volley.

‘Messi gets his first proper involvement in the game as he finds Tadeo Allende with an excellent ball over the top but the latter’s first touch is disappointing and ends up running it out of play..

A penalty shout for Sporting Kansas after Daniel Rosero goes down inside the Miami box but the referee waves play to continue. Maxi Falcon is the defender and by the looks of it, there isn’t enough contact for the referee to award a spot-kick.

Lionel Messi has overhit the corner and the ball goes out of play. Not something you see often from the Argentine superstar. 

Kansas backline is quite high, given their urgency to score an early goal and reduce the deficit. Doing that leaves the away team with the threat of being hit on the counter. 

Inter Miami having more of the ball in the early minutes but Sporting Kansas is not comfortable with their opponent kicking it around. It is applying a press but a light one. 

The first-half of the Champions Cup first-round clash (second-leg) between Inter Miami and Sporting KC is underway at the Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Messi and Co. lead 1-0 on aggregate. 

The players are done with their warm-up. It is time to get back to the dressing room and have a final team talk with their coaches before kick-off. 

Inter Miami will clash against Sporting Kansas City in the CONCACAF Champions Cup first-round (second-leg fixture) at the Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday (Wednesday according to IST).

Miami will come into this match with a crucial away goal after Lionel Messi’s strike guided the Herons to a 1-0 win against Kansas in the first-leg, which was played in subzero temepratures at the Children’s Mercy Park stadium.

This time around, Messi and Co. can expect familiar weather conditions as they play at home.

Javier Mascherano’s men will be coming into the match after a 2-2 draw against New York City FC in their opening match of the new Major League Soccer season.

Kansas, on the other hand, will face Miami after a 1-0 loss against Austin FC in their MLS opener.