By Alex Raskin Sports News Editor For Dailymail.com and Wires
23:34 30 Sep 2023, updated 00:20 01 Oct 2023
Lionel Messi will be sidelined again for Inter Miami’s game against NYFC due to a muscle injury.
Messi will be inactive for Wednesday’s US Open Cup final against Houston due to a thigh issue, marking his fourth absence at a stretch in his last five games combined for club and country.
And it is unclear whether Messi will continue on the sidelines as Inter Miami continues its push to make the Major League Soccer playoffs next week.
His presence helped Miami (9-15-5, 32 points) get within striking distance of the last playoff spot. Miami earned 10 of these points in Messi’s four league games by going 3-0-1 with him in the lineup.
Messi did not play on Wednesday, and as a result, the Houston Dynamo took full advantage to win a trophy on its home field.
In the absence of Messi, Griffin Dorsey and Amine Bassi of Dynamo scored goals in the first half and Houston – with NBA star James Harden, part of the team’s ownership group, watched from the stand – leads Inter Miami 2-1 to win the US Open Cup.
Josef Martinez scored in second-half stoppage time for Inter Miami, but it wasn’t enough as Messi watched from the team’s bench area.
Inter Miami coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino said on Wednesday night that it would be ‘unwise’ to consider playing Messi against Houston, although he said the team expects him to play on Saturday when the competitions in MLS will continue for the club. Messi will continue to be evaluated until then.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner was subbed out of a match against Toronto on September 20 in the first half due to a leg issue, and did not play in the team’s 1-1 draw with Orlando on Sunday . It was the third game he has missed in total – two for club, one for country – in the past two weeks, and missing a final on Wednesday suggests the problem could be worse than suggested by team.
With a sudden surge, NYCFC will hope they can do enough to secure the crucial three points that come with a win on Saturday night.
NYCFC (8-10-13, 37 points) is trying to snap a three-game winning streak for the first time this year and has scored eight times during a five-game unbeaten streak (3-0-2 ) which elevated them to ninth place. in the Eastern Conference. NYCFC started the week with the same point total as CF Montreal, but with three fewer wins.
‘We have to be as good as we can be defensively,’ said NYCFC coach Nick Cushing. ‘We’ve been good for the last few weeks so we need to build on that.’
With three games remaining, NYCFC is trying to hold off DC United, who they visit next week and lead by one point in the standings. NYCFC is also three ahead of the New York Red Bulls and Chicago Fire.
NYCFC continued their streak with a 3-0 win at home against Toronto FC on Sunday afternoon. Andres Perea scored in the second minute while Andres Jasson and Julian Fernandez also scored as NYCFC scored three goals for the third time this year.