Champions Cup: Messi-less Miami ekes out 2-0 win against upstart Cavalier FC

Teams will play decisive second match next week in Jamaica’s National Stadium

Speed kills, or so the saying goes. Cavalier FC used speed, discipline and pluck to outplay Inter Miami for more than 60 minutes Thursday at Chase Stadium.

Tadeo Allende, left, and Benjamin Cremaschi celebrate after Allende scored Inter Miami’s first goal Thursday in a 2-0 Concacaf Champions Cup match against Cavalier FC of Jamaica. Photo credit: Major League Soccer.

Tadeo Allende scored in the 61st minute, smashing the ball home after a scramble in front of Cavalier’s net, and Luis Suarez added an insurance goal 12 minutes later to seal the Herons’ 2-0 win in the home leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16. The second leg will be played at Jamaica’s National Stadium at 8 p.m. EST Thursday, March 13, in Kingston.

‘Muscle overload’ sidelines Messi

Lionel Messi missed his second straight match because of what Herons’ coach Javier Mascherano said is not an injury, but “muscle overload.” Team doctors have advised holding Messi, 37, out until he is fully rested to avoid possible injury.

“I go by what the medical team tells me,” Mascherano said after the match, according to Miami Herald reporter Franco Panizo. “The medical team has told (Messi) has no injury. He has (muscle) fatigue from having played three games in six days, the change of climates, and a lot of situations.

“We want to take care of him and do not want him to aggravate that overload so we gave him rest while knowing the risks we were taking because not having the best player in the world is complicated,” Mascherano continued. “We also have to take a step forward as a team and know how to play without him.”

To read Panizo’s article, go here.

Offside call keeps Cavalier scoreless

Rudolph Speid’s young team — the average age of his players is 20.2 — played beyond their years. Cavalier kept six men in the box on defense, anticipated the Herons’ passes and runs well, and used their hiccup-quick forwards to sweep forward in attack after turnovers.

Shaquille Stein seemed to have given the Jamaican club the lead in the waning minutes of first/half stoppage time when he knocked home a pass set up by a free kick. The goal was disallowed after an almost 6-minute VAR review showed a Cavalier player barely offside on the initial kick; the referee ruled that the player was involved in the play, negating the score, but Cavalier fans can be forgiven if they disagree. It was a near thing. Ian Quillen of MLS Multiplex has a report here.

Inter Miami will host Charlotte in an important early season clash of Eastern Conference contenders at 4 p.m. Sunday before playing Thursday in Jamaica.