Lionel Messi scores 900th goal as Nashville ousts Miami in Champions Cup | Football news

Lionel Messi will join Cristiano Ronaldo in the 900-goal club when Nashville eliminates Miami from the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Cristian Espinoza scored a second-half goal to send Nashville SC into the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals, knocking out Inter Miami in a milestone night for Argentina star Lionel Messi.

Wednesday night’s match in Fort Lauderdale, Florida ended 1-1, with the teams tied 1-1 on aggregate over the two games. Nashville advanced in the away-goals tiebreaker.

Messi opened the scoring in the seventh minute with his 900th career goal for club and country, but defending MLS Cup champions Miami could never find the net again.

Nashville advances to face Philadelphia Union or Mexico’s Club America in the quarterfinals.

The hosts got the goal they needed after a wild sequence in front of the Miami goal. Alex Muyle’s shot was blocked but bounced in the air and headed for the goal line, where Herons goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair punched it through traffic. The rebound fell to an unmarked Espinoza, who fired a right-footed shot inside the far post.

Early on, Sergio Reguilon set up Messi for a 10-yard shot between the legs of a Nashville defender on his way to the net.

Messi is second in football history in career goals, behind Portugal and Al-Nasr star Cristiano Ronaldo with 965.

Club America 1, Philadelphia Union 1 (Club America leads 2-1 on aggregate)

Rodrigo Dourado’s sixth-minute goal helped Liga MX side Club America advance Philadelphia’s comeback bid to the quarterfinals in Mexico City.

After Club America won the opening leg 1-0 in Philadelphia last Tuesday, Dourado scored his first goal since his January transfer with a header from Rafael Vega’s line-drive free kick.

Union scored on a penalty kick by Jesus Bueno in the 49th minute following a foul on Alex Zendejas by Frankie Westfield. But Philadelphia didn’t put a single shot on goal the rest of the game, missing three attempts and having another blocked.

Two first-half saves from Andrew Rick gave the Union a chance to mount a comeback which they were unable to convert.