Al Hilal floors Messi’s Inter Miami in friendly
Malcolm scored a late header to give Al Hilal a 4-3 win over Inter Miami CF and Lionel Messi in a club friendly in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Monday.
The Saudi Pro League club loaded with former European pros raced out to a 2-0 win with a clinical finish from Aleksandar Mitrovic and a second goal by Abdullah Al-Hamddan, who capitalized on a poor clearance by Inter Miami.
The visitors pulled one back before half-time through Luis Suárez who scored his first goal since joining Miami and had an equalizer by Messi ruled out for offside before Al Hilal struck again with a header by Michael Delgado to take a 3-1 lead into the break.
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David Ruiz almost singlehandedly got Miami back into the game in a furious start to the second half, drawing a penalty that Messi converted and then scoring with a stellar shot from the top of the area to get his team back on level terms in the opening 10 minutes.
Both sides had chances to secure the win, but it wasn’t until 88th minute that Al Hilal took the lead for good when an onrushing Malcolm met a cross from Yasir Al Shahrani and hit a bullet header off the fingertips of Drake Callender into the back of the net.
The result keeps Miami winless in preseason after three games, following draws with El Salvador and a loss to FC Dallas. Messi, who has played an increasing number of minutes in each of Miami’s preseason games, was subbed off in the 87th minute just before Malcolm’s winner.
Al-Hilal had been strongly linked with a move for Messi when he left Paris Saint-Germain and became the most sought-after free agent in the sport last year.
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He ultimately opted for a move to the United States to join David Beckham’s Miami and quickly led the team to its first trophy, the Leagues Cup.
He and Miami will be hoping for even more success in his first full season and, the preparations include an extensive tour with stops in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Japan.
Miami plays its second match in Saudi Arabia on Thursday against Al Nassr and Cristiano Ronaldo, although the Portugal star’s availability is in question due to a recent injury.