It was a tense night at the Geodis Park between Nashville and Inter Miami as the two sides renewed hostilities after meeting 7 months ago in the Leagues Cup final, MySportDab reports.
The stage was set for a tensed and spirited clash with the Tenn-based outfit hopeful of harvesting a pound of flesh from Inter Miami after losing the Leagues Cup final to the team on penalties.
Jacob Shaffelburg was the hero of the night for the home side. Shaffelburg scored in both halves to steer Nashville into a 2-0 lead.
Lionel Messi rallied Inter Miami back into proceedings when he scored in the 52nd minute to reduce the deficit.
However, Inter Miami were dealt a blow when Shaq Moore scored to extend the lead again for the home side. It would have been a final blow to Inter Miami’s comeback hopes with a few minutes left to play.
However, a lengthy VAR check resulted in a razor-thin decision to rule out the goal and return the scoreline to 2-1 as a Nashville player was spotted offside in the build-up.
Things were nervy with the scoreline reversed to 2-1 as both sides battled for a fair result heading into the second leg.
In the 67th minute when the score was still 2-1, the tense clash finally spilled into physical confrontations.
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Lionel Messi, including his teammate Luis Suarez, were seen in a viral footage confronting Nashville player Godoy.
The pair could be seen shoving Godoy furiously with Messi angrily warning the player. It is still unclear what led to the confrontation but it occurred after Lionel Messi had his shot deflected for a corner kick.
Other players rushed to the scene as the row seemed to spill out of proportion before calm was restored quickly.
Luis Suarez would later score a last-minute header to equalise and peg back Nashville to a 2-2 draw at the blast of the final whistle
