In a heated night at Lower.com Field, where Lionel Messi took everyone’s eyes, Columbus Crew fell short by 3-2 scoreline against Inter Miami and remains in second place with 57 points. While forwards Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez scored for the visitors, Diego Rossi and Cucho Hernandez scored for the Black & Gold.  

Columbus Crew hit the first punch of the night by the seventh minute when midfielder Max Arfsten dribbled in from the the left side of the field and assisted Hernandez, whose shot couldn’t be stopped by goalkeeper Drake Callender.

However, since Hernandez was in an offside position when receiving the ball from Arfsten, the goal was ruled off.

During the first 10 minutes of the game, Wilfried Nancy’s team applied effective pressure over Miami’s central midfielder Federico Redondo, which made it difficult for the visitors to play out from the back and get a clean ball for Messi and Suarez.

Moreover, Messi had man-to-man marking from defender Malte Amundsen every time he grabbed the ball.  

Inter Miami was presented with a clear opportunity in the 22^nd minute when midfielder Yannick Bright placed a deep ball to defender Marcelo Weigandt, who beat Amundsen’s position and passed it to Messi but defender Rudy Camacho saved the day by deflecting the ball away to the corner kick.

Coming from that corner kick, Messi caught the rebound, crossed the ball to the box, and ended up in goalkeeper Patrick Schulte’s back of the net. However, the goal was ruled off due to an offside position.

The Sunshine State team didn’t take this decision the right way and swarmed referee Drew Fischer asking for a VAR review.

Seconds later, after confirming the decision on the field, Miami players were still around the referee and the Crew took advantage of Miami’s poor field positioning in the field and played a long ball to midfielder Mo Farsi, who collided with midfielder Sergio Busquets.

This specific play heated things up at Lower.com Field, as Busquets deserved a red card, but didn’t even receive a yellow.

Five minutes later, by the 35^th minute of the first half, Busquets slide-tackled Hernandez and things got out of hands again for Fischer, as the visitors swarmed Hernandez on the floor, claiming that he was acting.

Two minutes later, following two consecutive fouls by Redondo on midfielder Darlington Nagbe, he received the first yellow card of the game.

Rossi appeared in the 42^nd minute when dribbled past Busquets and cut inside Bright’s position to find an open long-distance shot, but Callender easily caught the ball.

When the first half was almost over, Messi and a brilliant individual play against Camacho, Amundsen, and defender Steven Moreira gave the visitors the initial lead in the score.

Following a long ball, Messi controlled it with his inner bicep which delayed the decision of the goal, but it was finally ruled valid.

After another controversial call, Miami added another one with Messi’s free-kick, and seemed to be a knock-out punch for the hosts.

Coming out from the half-time break, the Black & Gold quickly shortened Inter Miami’s lead with a goal by the 48^th minute.

Coming from a long ball to Farsi, defender Noah Allen tried to deflect the ball but the rebound was caught by Rossi, who opened his foot and put it against Callender’s right post for the Crew’s first goal of the night.

Little did the players know that the adrenaline of scoring a goal wasn’t going to last long, as just a minute later, Schulte with a horrible mistake gave Suarez a clean header to bring the score 3-1.

When everything seemed over, Fischer ruled a penalty for Columbus Crew in the 60^th minute when Allen touched the ball with the hand inside the box.

Hernandez exchanged that opportunity for a goal to make it a one-goal lead for the visitors.

But again, happiness doesn’t last forever and Camacho received his second yellow of the game seconds later, which placed the Crew in a huge disadvantage to look for another goal.

The Black & Gold almost tied the game in the 75^th minute when Hernandez sent a deep ball to defender DeJuan Jones, who crossed it to the box, but forward Jacen Russell-Rowe couldn’t get a shot.

However, the rebound was captured by Farsi, whose shot was blocked by Callender to save Inter Miami.

Another handball by Inter Miami gave the Crew a new chance to tie the score with a penalty kick in the 80^th minute.

This time, defender Ian Fray slid to block Jones’ pass and handed the ball.

Following a VAR review, Hernandez took the penalty kick but his shot didn’t have enough power or precision.

Columbus kept hitting hard, as Hernandez tried a shot from the left edge of Miami’s box, but it went just wide.

Midfielder Dylan Chambost tried to surprise Callender with a long-distance shot in the 97^th minute but was not lucky.

Despite being one man short, the hosts didn’t give up and nearly achieved the draw, but fell.

What’s next

Columbus Crew will host Philadelphia Union in Lower.com Field next Saturday at 7:30 p.m.