After the match, Mascherano called it “the efficiency of Leo.” He has a point. Zoom out, consider the variables, analyze the game and Miami shouldn’t necessarily have won here. Every conventional stat, the flow of the game, the vibe of the place, the groundswell of momentum that comes from one team steadily beating another pointed towards a Vancouver victory.
Even when the Herons took an early lead, the Whitecaps had a true foothold. And from the 15th to the 66th minute, they dominated. When Emmanuel Sabbi pinged a shot off both posts and out midway through the second half – with the game knotted at 1-1 – a Vancouver winner felt far more likely than a late Messi burst.
But this is the genre of the Argentine you get these days. He was sparsely involved, yet the main man throughout. He pressed off the ball and was clinical when he had it. Messi registered 45 touches in 97 minutes, and, in truth, seven of them really mattered – four to dribble, three to deliver either an assist or a key pass leading to a goal.
“He was making a big effort in the last two, three, four games, pressing. It showed us how important it is for him to win,” Mascherano said.
It was two mistakes, really, that undid Vancouver. First was Edier Ocampo turning the ball into his own net off a Tadeo Allende cross. Next was a slightly overzealous dribble from Andres Cubas into midfield. Messi pinched it, shimmied, and fed Rodrigo De Paul to make it 2-1. Miami’s late third came because Vancouver simply overcommitted. Messi refused to lose. It was as simple as that.
“This is the moment I had been waiting for, and that we, as a team, were waiting for. It’s very beautiful for all of us. They deserved it,” Messi said.
