Minnesota United outclass Lionel Messi & Miami in "special day" | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

Minnesota United gave their supporters an afternoon to remember on Saturday, ambushing Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, 4-1, before an overflow crowd at sun-splashed Allianz Field, a signature victory for their young coach Eric Ramsay and his ascendant Loons that pushes them into sole possession of second place in the MLS Western Conference one third of the way into the campaign.

“It’s a huge win for us,” MNUFC standout Robin Lod, who netted the night’s fifth goal with a gorgeous curler from just outside the Miami penalty box, told MLS Season Pass postgame. “We showed we can beat a really, really good team in MLS and, yeah, it just showed the characteristics of our team that we can win.”

Signature win

This was indeed a trademark MNUFC result, achieved with just five shots on target and a mere 33% of ball possession – and their key second goal, an Anthony Markanich header that pushed their lead to 2-0 mere seconds before halftime, was produced off a long throw-in.

Ramsay’s transition-oriented game model sliced the rickety Miami defense to ribbons with icy efficiency on the counterattack, the four goals matching their biggest attacking output of the Englishman's year-plus tenure to date.

“We didn't control the ball, but with the ball we played with a very high tempo and we created opportunities from more organized plays, from set pieces, from counterattacks,” said Ramsay afterwards. “We defended like an elite team in that sense, and for a coach, there's nothing better.

“It's a very special day for the club, and there's a certain relief, I guess for me, in the fact that we showed what we are as a club. And I hope the fans really enjoyed it, because obviously days like this don't happen every week.”

Miami slumping

This marks IMCF’s fourth loss in their last five matches across all competitions – a span in which the Floridians have leaked a whopping 14 goals, while crashing out of Concacaf Champions Cup at the hands of the Vancouver Whitecaps. Now they'll fly directly to the West Coast for a midweek duel with the San Jose Earthquakes, statistically one of the most prolific attacking teams in the league.

It all piles another stack of sobering questions on coach Javier Mascherano’s desk, several of which were spelled out bluntly in his postgame press conference.

“Unfortunately, it is a very hard loss for us, because beyond everything, we knew that Minnesota could do this kind of damage in transition and set pieces, and they ended up doing damage in a way that we had thought about before the match, and that's what worries me,” said the first-year boss in Spanish.

“It's inattention – a lack of focus that you can't have in this kind of match.”

Luis Suárez missed out on this match due to a migraine, according to Mascherano, and his team seemed to miss the veteran striker’s role as a reference point at the tip of the spear, with Messi filling in as a false No. 9 to mixed results.

The GOAT bagged his fifth goal in league play right after halftime to haul his side back into contention, and the visitors did threaten to dig out an equalizer in the ensuing period before a decisive own goal by Marcelo Weigandt, the Argentine fullback stranded in an awkward position as he defended an inswinging cross to the back post while facing his own net.

“That third goal finished us,” said Mascherano. “It finished all our confidence, and made it an uphill battle.”

Mighty Minnesota

When the 2025 MLS schedule was released in December, the Twin Cities soccer community took special note of Miami’s visit, as is so often the case for opponents in the Messi era. The Loons’ leadership said they considered moving the game to one of their region’s larger stadia for a bigger gate, as was the case in Columbus and Kansas City, but decided “it would just not be congruent with who the club is and how we’ve grown,” in the words of club CEO Shari Ballard, who added, “Allianz Field was built for playing games like this.”

That decision now looks wise. The intimate, noisy ground in St. Paul was rocking for this high-profile encounter, the presence of some pink Miami and albiceleste Argentina jerseys in the crowd doing little to drown out the passionate support of the Loons faithful – and the Wonderwall supporters’ section drove home the fierce pride in their local scene with a pointed pregame tifo declaring ‘History over hype/Culture over cash.’

“It was a nice win, and it was nice to see the crowd living every moment,” said Lod, who alluded to a growing sense of belief in the value of Ramsay’s organizing principles among his squad.

“We know that if we do the work as an 11 and defend well,” said the Finnish international, who ran more than six miles in his 90-plus minutes on the pitch, “it will put us in a good position to win the games.”

WATCH: Minnesota roll over Messi & Miami in dominant win