Thommy’s brace not enough in Sporting KC’s loss to Inter Miami
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sporting Kansas City played in Arrowhead Stadium for the first time in 13 years and fell short to Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in a sensational 3-2 match.
72,610 people packed the home of the Kansas City Chiefs to watch one of the greatest soccer players of all time face Sporting. It was the third highest Major League Soccer crowd in history and the largest crowd for a soccer match in the state of Missouri.
Sporting KC’s Andreu Fontàs ready to face former teammate Messi
Sporting started the scoring with left back Tim Leibold stealing the ball from Miami’s Marcelo Weigandt.
Leibold passed the ball to midfielder Erik Thommy, who had lots of space on the right side of the box to send a right-footed shot to the bottom left corner for the first goal of the match in the sixth minute.
Miami responded with Lionel Messi sending a double line-breaking pass to Diego Gomez who sent a right-footed shot past goalkeeper Tim Melia in the 18th minute.
In the second half, Messi notched a left-footed goal seven yards outside of the box to give Miami a 2-1 lead in the 51st minute.
In the 58th minute, Thommy recorded his second goal of the game when a corner kick bounced his way and he volleyed the ball in mid-air to spin off of the right post for the equalizer.
In the 71st minute, as Melia looked to transition the game with a pass to right back Jake Davis, Gomez stole the ball from Davis and set a cross in the box to Luis Suárez who was wide open for the goal.
Sporting equaled Miami’s shot total at 10 (6-3 on goal) with possession sitting almost even with Miami getting a 50.1% edge.
Chiefs NFL Draft prospect per day: Northern Iowa DT Khristian Boyd
SKC falls to 2-2-4 on the season.
Sporting hosts another big match next Saturday when St. Louis City SC comes to Children’s Mercy Park at 7:30 p.m.
