FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Luis Suárez scored and had two assists, and Inter Miami beat Pumas 3-1 on Wednesday night to advance in the Leagues Cup.
Miami played the match without Lionel Messi, who is sidelined indefinitely with what the team described as a minor muscle injury in his right leg.
Messi was hurt in the opening minutes of Inter Miami’s win over Necaxa on Saturday. He was in attendance for Wednesday’s match and watched from a suite at Chase Stadium.
Miami, which has eight points in the Major League Soccer Leagues Cup standings, is the first MLS club through to the tournament’s knockout stages.
Rodrigo De Paul scored his first Inter Miami goal on an assist from Suárez in the 45th, tying the match after Pumas’ Jorge Ruvalcaba opened scoring in the 34th.
De Paul, the star Argentine midfielder who came to MLS to play with his national team friend Messi, made his club debut in Inter Miami’s League’s Cup opener against Atlas last Wednesday and had two assists against Necaxa.
Suárez put Inter Miami ahead 2-1 when he converted a penalty kick in the 59th after a handball was called on Pumas defender José Caicedo in the penalty area.
It was Suárez first goal since he scored in Inter Miami’s Club World Cup match against Palmeiras on June 23.
Tadeo Allende finished Suárez’s second assist of the night in the 69th.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
