This extremely hyped game was supposed to be a clash between two longtime foes Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo but a brazilian star Talisca starred in Al Nassr’s 6-0 thrashing of Inter Miami. Talisca upstaged the illustrious duo with a hat trick as the Saudi Pro League Club demolished its Major League Soccer rival scoring three goals within the first 12 minutes.
The game was billed as the ‘last dance’ off between the Portuguese Superstar and the Argentinian Football Maestro. Cristiano Ronaldo, however, was ruled out of the contest due to a muscle injury while Lionel Messi was benched and only appeared for a few minutes towards the end of the game.
Such a humiliating loss to Al Nassr caps off a disastrous friendly season for Messi and his American club leaving them winless this year. Inter Miami suffered two consecutive losses in the ongoing Riyadh Season Cup 2024 and their journey in the tournament came to an end.
The winner of the Riyadh Season Cup 2024 will now be decided on Thursday, the 8th February, by a game between Al Nassr and Al Hilal.
GAME SUMMARY
All Nassr started off Thursday’s game strongly as Brozovic rushed forward from left, creating a chance, but it was cleared by the Inter Miami defense with ease.
3 minutes after the kick off, Otavio put Al Nassr ahead by 1-0. He made space inside the box himself to place the ball into the top corner before receiving a pass from a brilliant team-move down the left wing. In the hospitality suite, Ronaldo was found to celebrate Otavio’s goal.
Talisca helped Al Nassr take a 2-0 lead in the 10th minute. The Brazilian just tapped home a cross from Otavio at the far post following a strategic team-move. Inter Miami’s defense failed miserably as they left Talisca alone without tracking him.
Two minutes later, Aymeric Laporte scored the goal of the night, extending the lead 3-0. He belted in a 25-yard-long free kick from deep inside their own half after watching the Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender well off his position. It was really an amazing goal, even Laporte could not believe his eyes.
In the 22nd minute, Al Nassr won ball possession before Otavio came charging forward. He tried to drill into the Inter Miami box but Gressel blocked him. Finally, the Inter Miami defense shined.
In the 29th minute, Al-Aliwa came very close to scoring, but the Inter Miami goalkeeper saved it by punching the shot away. One minute later, Luis Suarez tried to slot the ball home but his effort went in vain as the Al Nassr goalkeeper Ospina palmed it away.
In the first half of the game, Inter Miami had 8 shots while Al Nassr had 11 shots. But the difference was, Al Nassr had 6 of them on target while Inter Miami had just 2.
Al Nassr were expected to be weaker in absence of their key player Ronaldo but on the contrary, they looked strong, dangerous and impressive in attack because their other players came forward to wave off Ronaldo’s absence. On the other hand, Inter Miami were struggling with their defense. They simply couldn’t afford Messi’s absence in the first eleven. The football-maestro was benched as a precaution because he had felt discomfort after the first game according to a pre-match report.
In the 50th minute, Inter Miami goalkeeper Callender brought down Al Nassr’s Maran In the box and conceded a penalty. Talisca made no mistake and converted it into a goal putting Al Nassr 4-0 up.
Suarez charged forward 10 minutes later but the former Barcelona-star was offside. Inter Miami missed another opportunity to reduce the lead. Meanwhile, Otavio and Talisca went on attacking dangerously, aiming for more goals. Two minutes later, Inter Miami came forward and their winger found Suarez in front of the goal. Suarez took a shot but Walid, Al Nassr goalkeeper, saved it by pushing it away.
In the 68th minute, Al Nassr took a 5-0 lead as Maran scored a header off a corner kick, sailing over the keeper’s head. Three minutes later, the Inter Miami coach took off Suarez.
In the 73rd minute, Talisca pulled off a beautiful and confident finish on the left-foot before controlling an aerial pass to find the net, but his hat trick had been denied initially as he was signaled offside. After a VAR check, however, the referee confirmed within a few minutes that Talisca was onside and his goal was valid. Talisca completed his hat-trick and extended the lead 6-0.
Messi finally came off the bench to join the match in the 83rd minute. He was the replacement for Campana. With just about ten minutes of total time pending, Inter Miami expected a consolation goal from Messi. Messi, however, couldn’t pull back any. The full-time whistle went off and Al Nassr sealed a huge 6-0 win over Inter Miami.