FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Luis Suárez and Tadeo Allende scored second-half goals with a healthy Lionel Messi on the bench, and Inter Miami beat Jamaican club Cavalier FC 2-0 on Thursday night in the first leg of a CONCACAF Champions Cup group of 16 match.
Messi sat out his second straight game. He didn’t travel with Miami to Houston for a Major League Soccer match against the Dynamo on Sunday night, which Miami won 4-1.
Allende retrieved a pass from Sergio Busquets and beat Cavalier goalkeeper Vino Barclet from 12 yards out in the 61st minute, with his shot landing inside the left post.
Suárez connected in the 83rd minute. He retrieved a ball deflected off Cavalier defender Shamar Watson’s foot and blasted a shot from 20 yards.
An apparent goal by Cavalier forward Shaquille Stein late in the first half was overturned because of an offside infraction after a video review that lasted seven minutes.
The second leg will be on March 13 in Kingston, Jamaica.
First-year Miami coach Javier Mascherano said on Wednesday that Messi, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, participated in the two practices that preceded the match.
But he was not in the lineup that was announced an hour beforehand. Messi watched from a private box.
Cavalier, which won the Jamaican Premier League title last season, advanced to this phase of the Champions Cup after winning the CONCACAF Caribbean Cup in December. The club remains scoreless in the Champions Cup after 2-0 and 4-0 losses against FC Cincinnati last year.
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