Lionel Messi had an unexpected injury in the 10th minute of the duel between Necaxa and Inter Miami that forced him to leave the field of play, but the Argentine's absence was not taken advantage of by the Rays to tie 2-2 and then give up two points in penalties 5-4 in a duel held this Saturday in the Leagues Cup.

Precisely the Spaniard Jordi Alba snatched away the Necaxa aspirations of taking the victory in the 90 + 2 minute, spoiling the effort of the Mexican squad led by a well-known throughout the Argentine legion of Inter Miami like Fernando Gago, former coach of Chivas and Boca Juniors.

Because in the blink of an eye the smile on the hydrorrays froze and spoiled the two goals scored by Argentine Tomas Badaloni and Ricardo "La Joya" Monreal in the 81st minute, which they thought might be enough to beat the Americans.

It is true that Necaxa was not left with effort, because after Inter Miami managed to open the scoring a minute after Lionel Messi left due to injury and where Telasco Segovia dispatched a goal from the edge of the area that left Necaxa goalkeeper Ezequiel Unsain with no option.

However, Necaxa's effort in the agony of the match went from ecstasy to laments, because when nobody expected it in the 92nd minute Marcelo Weigandt charged a foul on the right side of the area so that Jordi Alba could only head the ball and put it in the Necaxa net.

This goal condemned the Mexican team to look for two points in the penalty kicks, but in the end they ended up succumbing 5-4 in the second round of the Leagues Cup within the fifth day of activities of this competition.

The duel

The match had an intense start where both teams looked for the enemy goal, but it was the Garzas who struck first with a goal by Telasco Segovia with a powerful shot from outside the area that found the corner of the Necaxa goalkeeper.

But then Necaxa began to level the score and took advantage of the numerical advantage following the expulsion of Maximiliano Falcón for a hard tackle on Colombian Diber Cambindo, forcing the Americans to adjust to playing with ten men.

This was precisely reflected on the field when the Argentine Tomas Badaloni tied the game through an assist from Raúl Sánchez, causing the last minutes of the first half to become full of physical clashes and an abundance of yellow cards.

The second half started with Inter Miami trying to take control of the game, but it was Necaxa who controlled the game, testing goalkeeper Ríos Novo, who responded with several attempts until the 81st minute when Ricardo Monreal combined with Palavecino to score a shot that was both a cross and a shot.

But Miami didn't give up, and in the 92nd minute, they scored the equalizer with a great Jordi Alba header to make it 2-2 and send the game to penalties, where Florida won 5-4.

Penalties

Inter Miami saw De Paul, Cremaschi, Alba, Redondo, and Suarez score on the penalty kicks to beat Unsain, while Necaxa's failure Badaloni condemned Necaxa to give up two points to finish the first phase against Orlando City, while the Garzas will face the Pumas of UNAM.