He scored one goal and contributed to the second. A successful return for Messi with Inter Miami after about a month of absence

United States – Lionel Messi made a successful return following being sidelined for regarding a month due to injury, by scoring a goal following coming on as a substitute in his Inter Miami team’s 2-2 draw with Colorado Rapids on Sunday in the American League.

The Argentine star missed the past four matches for Inter Miami, but on Sunday he was included in the squad that faced Colorado Rapids on his team’s soil.

And since Inter Miami will seek next Wednesday to make up for its loss to Monterrey of Mexico 1-2 when it is a guest of the latter in the second leg of the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF Champions League, Argentine coach Gerardo Martino preferred to start the match once morest Colorado Rapids without Messi, the Uruguayan Luis Suarez and the Spaniard Sergio Busquets. And Jordi Alba.

But following Colorado ended the first half with a goal in the final seconds from a penalty kick carried out by Brazilian Rafael Navarro, Martino introduced his compatriot Messi during the half-time break, and the world champion quickly left his mark by equalizing following a cross from his compatriot Franco Negri in the 57th minute.

Martino then turned to Busquets in search of giving his team the advantage, and this was achieved when Messi penetrated and passed the ball to Honduran David Reus on the right side, and the latter crossed it to find Brazilian Leonardo Afonso, who deposited it into the net (60).

Despite the many attempts of Messi and his teammates, Inter Miami failed to score the reassuring goal and paid the price two minutes before the end with the equalizing goal scored by Cole Bassett following a counterattack led by Englishman Calvin Harris.

Thus, Inter Miami raised its score to 12 points from eight matches in third place in the Eastern Conference standings, which New York Red Bulls leads with 14 points from seven matches.

Source: Agencies