MIA 4-0 ATL HIGHLIGHTS: Messi, Taylor shine as Inter Miami advances into Leagues Cup knockouts

Clinical performance from Messi and his men as they walk into the knockouts of the Leagues Cup with a dominant 4-0 win. Two goals each from Messi and Taylor sealed the deal for Tata Martino’s side as it finishes on top of group J

Two added minutes

THE GAME STAYS 4-0 AS CALLENDER GETS DOWN LOW AND SAVES THE SHOT FROM ALMADA. The Inter Miami keeper has had a field day

PENALTY FOR ATLANTA! STRAIGHT RED FOR MCVEY AS HE PULLS ETIENNE JR. DOWN INSIDE THE BOX

OUT: Taylor IN: Campana

Taylor’s substitution means we won’t see a hat-trick in this game

Almada takes the free kick. Sends in a right footed curler past the Inter wall but a superb diving save from Callender keeps the ball out

OUT: Messi IN: Robinson

Free-kick for Atlanta and it’s in a dangerous position.

Superb set of moves from Berry. Wiley found him inside the box and he dribbles across two defenders and tried to finish but can only find Callender’s hands

Ruiz finds Ulloa inside the box. The latter lets out a powerful shot that takes a delfection and goes out for a Miami corner. Taylor serves it in but it is cleared away easily

OUT: Busquets IN: Ulloa, OUT: Cremaschi IN: Ruiz, OUT: Kryvstov IN: McVey

WONDERFUL SAVE! Guzan’s reflexes get the better of Taylor, who was well and truly on his way to his hat-trick. It was that man Messi again as he initiated the attack from his own half

Substitutes Masquera and Berry link up to threaten the Miami defense but fail to capitalise on the opening as Callender’s pro active save keeps them at bay

OUT: Rossetto IN: Alonso; OUT: Giakoumakis IN: Berry

A sedate passage of play as Miami takes it slow and steady. A humongous 4-0 lead offers this kind of a leeway and Miami is making use of it to the fullest, retaining as much possession as possible

BRACE FOR TAYLOR AS MESSI TURNS PROVIDER! Another goal from a tight angle as he finds the far post. Messi was isolated with a solitary defender and found Taylor at the edge of the box. The latter advanced into the box on the left and finished it off

WHAT A CHANCE! Almada with a brilliant run as he runs through the defense to find Wiley inside the box. He tries to finish but is surrounded by defenders and had to turn towards Giakoumakis. The latter attempts to finish but is stopped in his tracks

Superb link-up between Taylor and Cremaschi near the box. Taylor, as he has done throughout the match, plays a searching through ball inside the box. Cremaschi tries to squeez in after encountering Guzan in close quarters but hits it straight to the keeper

Atlanta starts the proceedings as it chases an unlikely feat - to overturn a three-goal deficit

OUT: Purata IN: Hernandez; OUT: Wolff IN: Mosquera

What started off as a dominant initial minutes from Atlanta, has turned upside down and the reason is just one man - Messi. The Argentine and Busquets have been lethal from the start and the scoreline is there to back it. Two goals from Messi and a wonderful finish from Taylor has put Miami in a commanding position. Atlanta has a mountain to climb in the second half and that might be highly unlikely given the way that Inter has played so far

THAT’S 3-0 MIAMI. ROBERT TAYLOR THIS TIME! Sublime stuff from Messi on the buildup as he bamboozles a defender on the right to send one into the box. Almada gets a wonderful first touch and plays it forward towards Taylor on the left, who slots it past Guzan to find the top right corner!

Lennon threatens to find an opening but Allen marks him to perfection on the right lane. The number 11 is forced to take a shot from an awkward angle, that Callender grabs without trouble

Messi finds Yedlin on the right. He, in turn puts it to Martinez. Martinez floats one into the box towards Taylor, who receives it and puts in a cross that is cleared away with ease

Busquets gives away the ball in a dangerous position, as he tries to turn over from Sosa. Almada gets the ball and he tires an ambitious shot from way outside the box. The right-footed shot goes brushing past the crossbar

Yet another Busquets-Messi combo, that threatens the defense. An identical lofted ball into the box by Busquets, Messi gets it and hits it straight into the hands of Guzan before the linesman raises his flag

Messi gets the ball near the half and puts it through towards Martinez, who would’ve ran away with it but a timely sliding tackle from Purata keeps him at bay

GOOOOOOOOAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!! HE HAS DONE IT AGAIN! MESSSIIIII! Atlanta has only itself to blame here. Its complacency presented an opening to Busquets and he finds Messi, who plays an inch-perfect through ball inside the box towards Taylor. Messi himself runs into the six yard box as he gets it from Taylor to complete a wonderful passage of play

Martinez from the left, switches the line of play and finds Cremaschi on the right. The latter then puts it to Busquets, who makes way for Messi. Back to Martinez. A quick one-two between him and Busquets before Messi gets the ball at the edge of the box. He tries a shot but it’s too weak as Guzan makes an easy save

DJ Khaled and Camila Cabello are here to watch the Argentine magician in action. David Beckham is also, obviously, on the sidelines

Almada gets the ball on the right flank and finds Wiley at the edge of the box. The latter tries to shoot it from long range but his shot gets deflected and cleared away eventually

Miller goes offensive and plays a lofted long ball towards Taylor on the left but Rossetto keeps him from making any drastic moves

Busquets with a wonderful lob, that deceives the defense and finds Messi at the edge of the box. The latter tries to find the lower right corner but crashes on to the crossbar. But it doesn’t matter as Messi finishes on his own rebound! Captain gives the early lead for Inter Miami!

Atlanta has been brilliant with the ball so far. Almada from his half sends a lofted through ball towards Wiley on the far right. But the defense steps up to avert danger

Another attack from Atlanta. Wolff gets the ball on the right, tries to go past Allen but the defender does well to deflect the ball out for a corner

WHAT A CHANCE! Giakoumakis’ fantastic run leaves the Inter defense surprised as he breaks free and advances into the final third. He crosses it to Almada, who beats Callender, but was caught offside on the buildup!

Martinez gets the ball rolling and Inter Miami will start left to right. Sergio Busquets gets his first touch of the match and he initiates an attack as he finds Messi. But the Argentine decides to take it slow and backtracks

The players have made their way into the middle and as the announcer says Messi’s name, there’s a huge roar at the DRV PNK stadium. Understandable after what the Argentine had done on his debut! Here’s a short recap for those who missed it: Messi starts off the bench - comes in the second half - scores a stoppage time free-kick stunner - hands a narrow 2-1 win to Inter Miami against Cruz Azul!

-A win will guarantee qualification

-A draw will confirm at least a second-place finish

-A loss means it will have to wait for the result of Atlanta United vs Cruz Azul match

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Inter Miami: Drake Callender; DeAndre Yedlin, Sergey Kristov, Christopher McVey Ian Fray, Jordi Alba; Sergio Busquets, Dixon Arroyo; Lionel Messi (C), Josef Martinez, Leonardo Campana

Atlanta United: Brad Guzan (C), Brooks Lennon, Luis Abram, Juanjo Purata, Ronald Hernández, Caleb Wiley, Santiago Sosa, Amar Sejdić, Thiago Almada, Tyler Wolff, Miguel Berry

When does the Leagues Cup match between Inter Miami and Atlanta United start?

The Leagues Cup match between Inter Miami and Atlanta United will kick-off at 5:00am IST at the DRV PNK stadium.

Where can I watch the Leagues Cup match between Inter Miami and Atlanta United?

The Leagues Cup match between Inter Miami and Atlanta United can be live streamed on Apple TV+ in India. The match unfortunately, will not be telecast in India.