Player ratings as Diego Rossi’s brace sinks Herons

Diego Rossi’s brace sealed a 3-2 comeback victory for Columbus Crew over Inter Miami in Leagues Cup Round of 16 action at Lower.com Field.

The Herons kicked things off in the best way possible with an opening goal inside the first 10 minutes of action. A loose touch from Columbus’ Steven Moreira saw Diego Gomez pounce and run down the byline near the hosts’ goal, and the Paraguay international looked up to see Matias Rojas all alone inside the penalty area.

Rojas latched on to Gomez’s lofted cross via a headed effort to score his fourth goal of Leagues Cup 2024 and put Miami 1-0 up on the road in the Round of 16.

The Crew would fight back, however, to create a few half chances throughout the rest of the second half and the opening stages of the second 45. But the Herons found their second goal in the 62nd minute.

Luis Suarez found Gomez running with acres of space to his left and El Pistolero played Miami’s No. 20 through to the Columbus penalty area. Gomez then returned the favor to Suarez, who was positioned at the top of the Crew’s penalty area, before Suarez then played Gomez through on goal and the 21-year-old finished with ease past Nicholas Hagen.

Even though the hosts were 2-0 down with roughly 30 minutes remaining, they didn’t give up and managed to pull one back thanks to a close-range header from Christian Ramirez. Max Arfsten sent in the inviting cross that the veteran forward was able to head home to halve the team’s deficit in a true super-sub act.

Things went form bad to worse for the Herons in a matter of moments as the Crew tied things up at home. Juan ‘Cucho’ Hernandez teed up Diego Rossi at Miami‘s back post, and the Uruguay international made no mistake to claim a rather straightforward tap-in to bring the score to 2-2 in the 69th minute.

Columbus would go on to turn the score around just before the final 10 minutes of regulation. Substitute Mohamed Farsi played Rossi through on goal as Jordi Alba was unable to keep up with the dynamic playmaker. Rossi essentially chipped Drake Callender to send the fans at Lower.com Field into a frenzy as their team overcame a 2-0 deficit to advance to the Leagues Cup Quarter-finals.

On the other hand, it’s a frustrating defeat for the Herons as they threw away a two-goal lead in the second half. Miami were unable to accomplish their goal of repeating as Leagues Cup champions without the legendary Lionel Messi while Columbus eye another piece of silverware under Wilfried Nancy.