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After two lethargic showings against MLS opponents to begin the season, Nashville SC found what looked like a winning formula, just in time for its biggest game of the season to date.
That was until Inter Miami’s star-studded lineup had its say.
A pair of former Barcelona stars, Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets, linked up on Suarez’s stoppage-time header to force a 2-2 draw Thursday in the first leg of Nashville’s CONCACAF Champions Cup round-of-16 series with Inter Miami.
With its own star, Hany Mukhtar, back in the lineup after missing three games due to a hamstring injury, Nashville took a 2-0 lead on a pair of highlight-reel goals by Jacob Shaffelburg. But Lionel Messi scored in the 52nd minute to put the Herons back in the game.
“We were given four or five moments tonight and we scored two,” Nashville coach Gary Smith said. “On most occasions, you say OK, that’s good enough. It’s not against them.”
Jacob Shaffelburg scores pair of goals
The name of Shaffelburg’s game is pure, unadulterated pace, so it wasn’t surprising to see him dust Inter Miami right back Tomas Aviles multiple times. The question about the Canadian winger concerned his finishing touch.
Smith has wanted to see a more consistent end product from Shaffelburg, and it has been there through five games this season. Shaffelburg scored on a tight-angle shot in the CCC opener at Moca FC, though it was called offside. In the second leg of the Moca series, he scored on a long-range shot, though it took a deflection off a defender.
In the fourth minute Thursday, Shaq Moore picked up a loose ball and laid it across the edge of the penalty box to Shaffelburg. As a pair of defenders closed down on him, he took a clean first touch and stepped into his shot, a rocket up and over a motionless Drake Callender.
Shaffelburg’s second goal was just as brilliant. Dribbling in from the left, he fired a laser with his weaker right foot into the top right corner, giving Nashville a 2-0 lead just after halftime.
“We saw the very best of him,” Smith said. “He was given space to run into, opportunity to run at players. He not only scored two goals but scored them fantastically well.”
Lionel Messi scores in second half after early misses
Messi somehow walked away from two golden first-half chances with nothing.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner got the ball with plenty of space on the edge of the box in the 13th minute. Messi uncorked a shot with his dominant left foot but sent it wide, an attempt that had an expected-goal value of 0.13.
Messi had an even better opportunity 25 minutes later, dribbling through the box only to be met with a kick save by Joe Willis. The xG on that shot was 0.27, the highest of any chance all night.
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Messi’s goal in the 52nd minute was a staple Messi goal, a left-footed screamer around multiple Nashville defenders that beat Willis’ outstretched arms.
Referee decisions loom large
Moore looked to have given Nashville an insurance goal in the 83rd minute when he cut around a defender and scored from close range. However, a VAR check ruled his goal was offside.
“All I would say is that I understood that the rules were, if there really wasn’t any real clear or obvious error, then the decision on the field should stand,” Smith said. “What I’m hearing, and seeing it for myself on the field, there was no way of saying it was offside.”
Smith pointed to a play in the first half where Tyler Boyd went down in the penalty box, thinking there could have been at least a check for a penalty. He also mentioned a handful of what he thought were “dubious” non-calls, including an incident where Shaffelburg was elbowed in the head by Inter Miami’s Federico Redondo.
Implications of Luis Suarez’s late goal
Suarez’s third goal for Inter Miami was not just crucial in forcing a draw, but it could loom large because it was an away goal. Each CCC series is decided on aggregate goals, with away goals serving as the tiebreaker.
The second leg of the series is scheduled for Wednesday, March 13 at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Nashville will advance to the quarterfinals with a win and be eliminated with a loss. It would advance with a tie by a score of 3-3 or higher, but it cannot advance with a tie of 0-0 or 1-1.
If Wednesday’s game is 2-2 after 90 minutes, the match will go to 30 minutes of extra time, with a penalty shootout to decide who moves on if there’s still a tie.
The winner would meet either FC Cincinnati or Monterrey in the quarterfinals in April. Monterrey beat Cincinnati 1-0 in the first leg of their round-of-16 series on Thursday.
Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.
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