Orlando City at Inter Miami: Five Takeaways

Orlando City continued its Leagues Cup run with an in-state rival match against Inter Miami. The odds were always against Orlando City in this match, but I’m still pretty upset about how it happened. The Lions lost 3-1 to Inter Miami, and here is what I took from the match.

Early Breakdown

In my three keys to victory story, I mentioned that either Cesar Araujo or Wilder Cartagena would need to be plastered to Lionel Messi’s hip the entire match. Literally, seven minutes into the match Araujo let Messi waltz into the box by himself, as he watched Robert Taylor chip a ball in rather than following Messi towards goal. The result was an unmarked Messi scoring an easy goal for Inter Miami.

A Quick Response

Araujo messed up against Messi, but he made up for it by equalizing for Orlando City 10 minutes later. It was exactly what the Lions needed on the road after Messi scored for Inter Miami. Messi’s goal understandably got the crowd into the match very early. Providing an equalizer that quickly allowed the match to settle back into a sense of normalcy and Orlando City finished the first half on level footing and even frustrated Messi a bit.

The Yellow that Wasn’t Called

Just before the half, Messi hip-checked Cesar Araujo, impeding his progress to a loose ball right in front of the referee. Somehow, the star wasn’t given a second yellow? I’m open to the argument that it wasn’t a yellow card, but I’m not open to the argument it wasn’t a foul. The ref didn’t call that foul, which directly resulted in Kyle Smith getting a yellow card. That’s not right. I get that they might not want Messi sent off in the first half, but they can call the foul. It’s exactly the type of refereeing we expected when we heard Messi was joining Miami and that the league and its major partners had a financial stake in his being here.

The Penalty that Wasn’t a Penalty

Antonio Carlos was called for a penalty in the second half on the absolute slightest of touches in the box. How do I know it was slight? I have the benefit of watching it again and again just like the video assistant referee (VAR). However, the VAR and I disagreed on the call. Josef Martinez took the resulting penalty kick and stutter-stepped Pedro Gallese to give Inter Miami the lead. This was a penalty that should have never been given and a goal that should have never happened. I firmly have my tinfoil hat on for the “why” it was given.

Late Loser

It ended the way it started, with Orlando City letting Messi free in the box to score the game winner. There is literally one thing you cannot do against Miami, and that is to let Messi be unmarked, although it was in transition and Miami’s ball movement on the counter caused confusion between Robin Jansson and Cartagena. Orlando City allowed the most dangerous man on the pitch to be alone in the box twice in the match and Messi made them pay both times. This match was always going to be an uphill battle, but Orlando City did not do itself any favors in either the seventh or 72nd minute.

That is what I saw in Orlando City’s 3-1 loss to Inter Miami in the Leagues Cup. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.