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Fans have had a go at Lionel Messi after Inter Miami succumbed to a 1-0 loss to FC Cincinnati on Saturday (October 7), despite his return from injury in the second half of the match.
Making his first appearance in five games since hobbling off in the 4-0 win over Toronto, Messi was far from his fluent best as the Herons lost a must-win game to keep their slim postseason hopes alive.
Coming on in the second half, with the game goalless, Messi was cheered on by the DRV PNK faithful. However, it was Cincinnati who scored the game's only goal through Alvaro Barreal in the 78th minute.
Miami had bossed proceedings in the first half in their talismanic captain's absence. They hit the woodwork through Tomas Aviles, Josef Martínez and Benjamin Cremaschi, but a breakthrough wasn't to be.
Messi's best chance to score came from a free-kick in the 59th minute, but the opportunity went begging. Instead, Barreal scored to break Miami hearts as Messi and Co.'s slim playoff hopes were doused.
Fans were unforgiving on the 36-year-old, with some blaming him for holding Tata Martino's side back. One tweeted:
"He's holding them back."
Another chimed in:
"Had enough time to do something, but he just couldn't. Messi should just retire. Man's washed now."
Here are some of the top reactions on X (formerly called Twitter):
Messi had a far from satisfactory outing - displaying obvious signs of ring-rust in his first competitive game in nearly a month. The loss marked Miami's first in 13 games across competitions with Messi on the field.
In 35 minutes of action, the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner had three shots off-target, made 3/4 dribble attempts, and had 14/18 accurate passes. He won 6/11 ground duels and also lost possession a whopping nine times.
"In the second half, we did a better job" - FC Cincinnati defender after beating Lionel Messi's Inter Miami
Lionel Messi hit the ground running at MLS side Inter Miami since arriving this summer on a free transfer after a two-season stint with Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain.
The Argentine has bagged 11 goals and five assists in 13 games across competitions. That includes 10 goals and an assist in seven games as the Herons won their first-ever title at the inaugural Leagues Cup.
However, Lionel Messi hasn't replicated the same magic in the MLS, where he now has one goal and two assists in four outings. Following his disappointing cameo on Saturday, which failed to inspire Miami to a win, Cincinnati defender Nick Hagglund explained how the visitors won the game at the DRV PNK Stadium:
"Second half we took care of business," Hagglund said (as per USA Today). "We gave up the ball a lot in bad places, and that caused us to be kind of out of sync (in the first half). In the second half, we did a better job with the ball which helped us out defensively."
Miami have 33 points from 32 games and are 14th in the Eastern Conference with two games to go.
