Fort Lauderdale (US), April 28: Inter Miami lost its first MLS game of the season with Lionel Messi watching from a private box as FC Dallas scored three unanswered goals in the second half for a 4-3 victory.
Inter Miami squandered a two-goal advantage and slipped to 5-1-3, with 18 points.
Inter Miami lost at Vancouver in the first leg of its CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal round on Thursday. Messi played all 90 minutes of Miami’s 2-0 loss. With the teams playing the second leg in Miami on Wednesday, the 37-year-old Messi playing Sunday seemed unlikely.
Pedrinho scored the go-ahead goal in the 81st minute to cap the comeback for Dallas (4-3-3, 15 points). Logan Farrington retrieved a ball before it crossed the backline and centered to an open Pedrinho, who converted from 15 yards. Goals from Osaze Urhoghide and Anderson Julio within a five-minute span midway through the second half tied it at 3.
Urhoghide got Dallas within one when he beat Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender with a shot outside the 6-yard box in the 64th minute. Julio scored the equalizer when he retrieved a long ball from Pedrinho, dribbled unmarked inside the large area and beat Callender with an 18-yard conversion.
Down an early goal, Miami responded with two strikes within a 13-minute span in the first half.
The tying score was ruled an own goal when a shot by Fafá Picault bounced off Dallas defender Shaq Moore near the goal line and into the net in the 16th minute.
Allen Obando put Miami ahead with a goal in the 29th minute. Picault centered a pass to Obando inside the 6-yard box where he tapped in a shot for his first Miami goal.
Miami signed the 18-year-old Obando on loan from the Ecuadorian first division in March.
David Martinez padded the lead for Miami with a goal in the 56th minute. He retrieved a loose ball on the left wing and converted with a shot that landed inside the right post.
Dallas struck first on Shaq Moore’s goal in the eighth minute. Moore retrieved a loose ball and blasted a shot from 18 yards that landed high inside the left post.
In addition to Messi, his former Barcelona teammates Luis Suárez and Jordi Alba didn’t play Sunday. (AP)
