Inter Miami CF Advances to Leagues Cup Knockout Rounds With 4-0 Win Over Atlanta United

Inter Miami CF defeated Atlanta United 4-0 at DRV PNK Stadium on Tuesday night, securing the team’s place in the Leagues Cup Knockout Rounds. Lionel Messi and Robert Taylor both scored a brace to help the team to victory.

DeAndre Yedlin, Sergii Kryvtsov, Kamal Miller, and Noah Allen started in goal, while Sergio Busquets, Dixon Arroyo, and Benjamin Cremaschi made up the midfield three. Messi, Taylor, and Josef Martinez were the attack’s three leaders.

Following their team debuts in Friday’s victory over Cruz Azul, Messi and Busquets made their historic Inter Miami debuts on Saturday. Messi once more wore the captain’s armband during the game. In Atlanta, where they both won the MLS Cup and made history, Martino and Martnez faced off against their former team, bringing about reunions for them as well.

Messi wasted no time connecting with Busquets and scoring in the eighth minute; Busquets played a ball over the top for Messi in behind the defense, where his first shot hit the post, but he collected the rebound and finished to take an early 1-0 lead.

Busquets 🤝 Messi

Messi puts us in the lead early with his second goal for the Club 👏👏#MIAvATL | 1-0 | 📺#MLSSeasonPass on @AppleTV: https://t.co/JZtEpe9Hfa pic.twitter.com/GKujBMsW1V

— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) July 25, 2023

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner doubled his tally in the 22nd minute, playing a quick give and go with Taylor, including a clever dummy by Martnez in the middle, and finishing at the far post to make it 2-0. Messi’s third goal for the Club in just his second appearance, while Taylor’s assist was his team-leading fifth of the season across all competitions.

Taylor ➡️ Messi for his second of the night to double the lead in the 22nd minute 👏#MIAvATL | 2-0 pic.twitter.com/bVvzkLJdDA

— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) July 26, 2023

Before the half, Messi cut inside past a defender on the right wing, played a ball to Cremaschi, who took one touch to turn over a defender and laid off to Taylor in the box. At the 44th minute, just before halftime, the Finnish winger calmly volleyed a slicing left-footed strike from a tight angle into the top corner of the net for a 3-0 lead.

ROBERT TAYLOR BANGER 🚨

Cremaschi with the flick on to Taylor to give us a three goal lead in the 44th minute🤯#MIAvATL | 3-0 pic.twitter.com/8T4ttw5vaY

— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) July 26, 2023

Inter Miami looked sharp after the break. Messi was driving forward out of his own half, looking to draw defenders with Taylor streaking on his left. Messi played Taylor in behind, and the winger struck a low left-footed shot across goal, off the far post, and in for his second goal of the night, giving Miami a 4-0 lead. Taylor’s second goal of the night and third in two Leagues Cup games.

Taylor bags a brace 2️⃣

Messi sets up Taylor for our FOURTH of the night 👏#MIAvATL | 4-0 pic.twitter.com/ssG8CyqXWu

— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) July 26, 2023

As the final 20 minutes of the game approached, things began to slow down for both teams. Lionel Messi left the game in the 78th minute, to rousing applause from the DRV PNK Stadium crowd, and was replaced by Robbie Robinson, with Yedlin taking over as captain for the remainder of the game. In the 83rd minute, Leonardo Campana was also substituted for Taylor.

In the dying minutes of the game, Atlanta was awarded a penalty, but Callender made a diving save, followed by another save to keep the clean sheet until the final whistle, in a sequence reminiscent of his season thus far.

“I think [the arrival of Messi and Busquets] has given the team a lot of confidence…I feel like they carry the responsibility and the rest of the team feels more free to play. We’re also accumulating more training sessions together and getting on the same page with a few things. I started to see certain things taking shape that we asked of the team in the match against St. Louis…Today I saw a very important performance,” said Inter Miami head coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino.

Inter Miami will be back in action on Wednesday, August 2 in the Round of 32 of the Leagues Cup, where they will face the winner of South Group 2.