Rodrigo de Paul bagged his first assist in Inter Miami colours as he assisted Jordi Alba for the equalizer that helped Miami take their MLS League Cup tie to penalties which they won. Miami won the 5-4 on penalties.
Mexican side, Necaxa gave Miami a run for their money despite Miami’s solid starting eleven that had Lionel Messi and new midfielder, De Paul in in it.
Miami had taken the lead in the early minutes of the game via Telasco Segovia’s goal but Necaxa equalized just as they grew into the game.
The Mexican team thought they had stole the show on the Miami home ground after scoring a second in the 81st minute Inter were only rescued by a Jordi Alba header that was made possible by De Paul’s inch perfect freekick in 90+2 minutes.
Before the late Alba leveller, both teams had received red card each during the regulation time. Maximillian Falcon had been red carded in the 17th minute for Inter while Cristian Calderon received his own matching orders in the 61st minute after receiving another yellow.
Lionel Messi could not impact the game as he had to be subbed off in the 11th minutes due to injury worries. Inter Miami’s head coach, Javier Mascherano had been complaining of Inter’s tight schedule for weeks.
Inter had also participated in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup where they knocked out by finalist, PSG who thumped them 4-0.
Inter eventually survived a huge upset after taking the games to penalties. Luis Suarez would be the penalty hero as he took the last kick that eventually sealed the win for Inter. Rodrigo De Paul scored the first spot kick for the men in pink while Jordi Alba scored the third spot kick.
Watch the penalty shoot-out between Inter Miami and Necaxa on the MLS YouTube page below:
