Nashville SC wins, will host Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in Leagues Cup final
Nashville SC is moving on to the championship match of the Leagues Cup. Awaiting it is perhaps the greatest soccer player of all time.
Nashville defeated C.F. Monterrey 2-0 in Tuesday's semifinal at GEODIS Park. On Saturday, it will host Lionel Messi and Inter Miami at 8 p.m.
Messi and Inter Miami knocked off the Philadelphia Union in Tuesday's other semifinal, 4-1. The Argentine superstar scored in the 20th minute, his ninth goal in six games since joining Inter Miami in late July.
Newly acquired forward Sam Surridge slotted in a 67th minute goal off an assist by Hany Mukhtar to put Nashville through to the final. Fafa Picault added an insurance goal in stoppage time.
In the process, Nashville also clinched its first-ever appearance in the CONCACAF Champions League. It can secure an automatic berth to the competition's round of 16 if it defeats Inter Miami.
Frenetic first half
The initial 45 minutes contained a wealth of scoring chances as Nashville and Monterrey both found oceans of space. However, the score stayed 0-0 going into halftime.
Monterrey looked sharper in the first 10 minutes as Nashville appeared hesitant on the ball, leading to multiple giveaways outside the box. One of them resulted in a close-range shot by Rogelio Funes Mori that missed the net.
Despite starting slow, Nashville thought it had drawn first blood when Mukhtar smoked one in from the left side in the 12th minute. But a VAR review nullified the goal, determining that Alex Muyl made an effort to head the ball from an offside position. Moments later, Mukhtar drilled a pinpoint free kick to right in front of the net, but Muyl couldn't connect cleanly from point-blank distance.
For Monterrey's part, Sergio Canales put a shot on goal in the 20th minute, forcing Elliot Panicco to make a diving save. Erick Aguirre slammed a shot off the crossbar eight minutes later.
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Turning the tide
Early in the second half, a VAR review yielded more controversy, but this time Monterrey was on the unlucky end. Lukas MacNaughton brought down Stefan Medina in the box, but no penalty was given.
For the next 20 minutes, Nashville was clearly the stronger side.
Mukhtar, in strong form all night, was the engine for Nashville's most enticing looks at the net. With 23 minutes left in regulation, the reigning MLS MVP jumped on a loose ball 25 yards in front of the Monterrey goal, got the ball under control and touched it off to Surridge, who scored his third goal for Nashville with a right-footed finish.
Surridge put the ball in the net again in the 75th minute, but the goal was disallowed because Mukhtar was offside on Shaq Moore's cross.
Monterrey attacked with urgency for the final 15 minutes, but couldn't best Panicco. The Nashville goalkeeper turned aside Monterrey's best chance of the second half, a shot by Funes Mori in the 90th minute.
Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.