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FORT LAUDERDALE: Lionel Messi scored twice in his return and Inter Miami beat Orlando City 3-1 on Wednesday night to advance to the Leagues Cup Final.
Inter Miami will be on the road to face the Seattle winner in the final Sunday. The Sounders beat the LA Galaxy 2-0 on the road later Wednesday.
Messi was back for the second time in two weeks after a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury.
Marco Pašalić opened the scoring for Orlando just before halftime, with the play surviving a VAR review for a possible handball.
Messi tied it in the 77th, converting from the penalty spot after Tadeo Allende was pulled down in the box. It was more Messi magic in the 88th when he combined with Jordi Alba to put Miami ahead.
Then, to finish it off in very similar fashion to Messi’s second goal, Telasco Segovia gave the ball to Luis Suarez and got it back to put the finishing touch on the victory.
“We are always excited to win and now we have an opportunity to take home a trophy,” assistant coach Javier Morales said. Head coach Javier Mascherano served his red-card suspension during the semifinal.
In an expected intense affair, there were nine yellow cards total and one red card given to Orlando City defender David Brekalo.
“Brekalo’s (first) yellow card was unbelievable. He doesn’t even touch the player (Rodrigo De Paul),” Orlando City coach Óscar Pareja said. “So this affects a team and affects the players to where the game becomes very difficult.”
Miami won the 2022 tournament.

NEW YORK: Novak Djokovic overcame an early scare to reach the third round of the US Open on Wednesday as defending women’s champion Aryna Sabalenka prepared to step up her title bid.
Djokovic, who is chasing a record 25th Grand Slam singles title, recovered from going a set down against American qualifier Zachary Svajda to complete a 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 win on the Arthur Ashe Stadium Court.
The 38-year-old Serbian legend had not played since his semifinal exit at Wimbledon in July before arriving in New York, skipping most of the North American hardcourt swing.
Djokovic said that while not at his best, he is hoping to play himself into form as the tournament progresses.
“That’s what I’m hoping, the deeper I go into the tournament the better I feel about my game,” he said.
“Obviously a bit different for me the last couple of years body-wise. I get the wear and tear quicker than I used to do.”
Djokovic’s victory sees him into the third round at the US Open for a record-equalling 19th time, where he will face either Britain’s Cameron Norrie or Argentina’s Francisco Comesana.
Norrie is one of only two British men left in the draw after fifth-seeded compatriot Jack Draper withdrew due to injury earlier Wednesday.
Draper reached the semifinals in New York last year but missed warm-up events in Cincinnati and Toronto this year while nursing a bone bruise in his left arm.
“I tried my very best to be here and give myself every chance to play but the discomfort in my arm has become too much and I have to do what is right and look after myself,” Draper wrote on social media.
Draper’s second round opponent, Belgium’s Zizou Bergs, was given a walkover into the third round.
The withdrawal of Draper clears Jannik Sinner’s path toward defending his title. Sinner was due to face Draper in the quarter-finals.
In other men’s action on Wednesday, Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz looks to keep his campaign rolling with a night game against Italy’s Mattia Bellucci.
In the women’s draw meanwhile, world number one Sabalenka also faces a night game, taking on Russia’s Polina Kudermetova on Arthur Ashe.
In other games on Wednesday, Britain’s Emma Raducanu continued her solid start to the tournament after dispatching Indonesian qualifier Janice Tjen in straight sets, winning 6-2, 6-1.
Tjen had become the first Indonesian player to reach the main draw of a Grand Slam in 21 years and followed that up with a first round upset of 24th seed Veronika Kudermetova.
But she was beaten comfortably by Raducanu, who is aiming to recapture the US Open title she won as an 18-year-old qualifier in 2021.
Raducanu will face either ninth seed Elena Rybakina or Tereza Valentova in the next round.
The unseeded Britain, who is back to full fitness after a series of injury problems in recent seasons, is relishing the prospect of facing a player of the caliber of 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina.
“She’s a top opponent. She’s won Wimbledon. She’s been at the top of the game for so long and very dominant and has big weapons, has a huge serve and big groundstrokes,” she said. “So I do want to see how my game suits and fits against the top.”
While Tjen headed for the exit, another player from Southeast Asia, the Philippines’ Alexandra Eala, also saw her tournament come to an end.
Eala, the first player from the Philippines to win a Grand Slam singles match with her defeat of 14th seed Clara Tauson on Sunday, was beaten 6-4, 6-3 by Spain’s Cristina Bucsa.