Columbus Crew end Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup title defense

The Columbus Crew came from two goals down to put an end to Inter Miami CF‘s Leagues Cup title defense on Tuesday night at Lower.com Field.

Christian Ramírez started the rally and Diego Rossi scored twice as the reigning MLS Cup champs fought back after going behind on goals from Miami’s Matías Rojas and Diego Gómez to win the game 3-2 and reach the quarterfinals.

Miami is still playing without superstar Lionel Messi, who has been out of action since suffering an ankle injury in Argentina‘s Copa América final win over Colombia last month.

Miami looked sharp to start the game as Rojas headed past Nicholas Hagen early in the first half. Gerardo Martino’s team seemed to be cruising to a quarterfinal berth when Gómez curled a shot into the far right corner from a Luis Suárez pass.

“When one observes how the team competes today against Columbus,” Martino said, “the reality is that one cannot help but be very satisfied with the way in which we can stand in the home of the last champion, in a team that was also a Concacaf Champions finalist.”

But the Crew, third in MLS‘ Eastern Conference and especially good at home under coach Wilfried Nancy, came storming back when Rossi and Ramírez scored in a matter of minutes to level the score and went ahead when Rossi rolled the ball home from a difficult angle to seal the win.

The Crew will face New York City FC in the quarterfinals, while Miami, which won last year’s inaugural edition of the Leagues Cup, gets some time off before resuming MLS play on Aug. 24 against top-of-the-table rivals FC Cincinnati.

“Today, even after a defeat, we will continue trying to achieve some title in the local league, which is what remains,” Martino added. “But I cannot accept that all this is measured based on whether you won or lost; I accept it because they are the rules of the game.”