By John Ogunsemore
Lionel Messi suffered a hamstring injury as Inter Miami overcame Club Necaxa via penalties in a dramatic League Cup encounter on Sunday.
The Argentine limped off in the 11th minute after contact with Necaxa’s Raul Sanchez and Alexis Pena while dribbling into the net and was replaced by Federico Redondo.
Telasco Segovia grabbed an opener at the Chase Stadium one minute later, before a contentious straight red card to defender Maxi Falcón reduced Miami to 10 men with more than 70 minutes left to play.
Necaxa equalised with a Tomás Badaloni strike before left-back Cristian Calderón was sent off after getting two yellow cards.
Ricardo Monreal snatched a late goal that appeared to have sealed victory for Necaxa before Jordi Alba leapt to finish off a Rodrigo De Paul set-piece and secure an equaliser in the second minute of stoppage time.
Inter Miami’s manager, Javier Mascherano confirmed his 38-year-old captain suffered “hamstring discomfort”.
He said, “Well, he felt a discomfort, and we will not be able to know until tomorrow how severe the injury is.
“There’s probably something there. Maybe not as important, because he was really not in pain. But he did feel a pull.”
