With Messi sitting out again, Suarez and Allende score to lead Inter Miami past Cavalier FC

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Luis Suárez and Tadeo Allende scored second-half goals with a healthy Lionel Messi on the bench, and Inter Miami beat Jamaican club Cavalier FC 2-0 on Thursday night in the first leg of a CONCACAF Champions Cup group of 16 match.

Messi sat out his second straight game. He didn’t travel with Miami to Houston for a Major League Soccer match against the Dynamo on Sunday night, which Miami won 4-1.

“For us, we feel it when we don’t have Leo,” first-year Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said. “I think any team in the world that doesn’t have Leo will feel that.”

Allende retrieved a pass from Sergio Busquets and beat Cavalier goalkeeper Vino Barclet from 12 yards out in the 61st minute, with his shot landing inside the left post.

Suárez connected in the 83rd minute. He retrieved a ball deflected off Cavalier defender Shamar Watson’s foot and blasted a shot from 20 yards.

“We played with fire and when you play with fire, you are likely to get burned,” Mascherano said. “We didn’t play with the rhythm we planned for in the first half. There was no intensity. In the second half, we attacked much better and dictated the game.”

An apparent goal by Cavalier forward Shaquille Stein late in the first half was overturned because of an offside infraction after a video review that lasted seven minutes.

“Our fitness level dropped to start the second half, probably from the disappointment of not having the goal allowed,” Cavalier coach Rudolph Spied said.

The second leg will be on March 13 in Kingston, Jamaica.

Mascherano reiterated that Messi is not injured but has experienced some fatigue after playing three games in six days before the two-match absence. Messi, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, participated in the two practices that preceded the match.

But he was not in the lineup that was announced an hour beforehand. Messi watched from a private box.

“Not having the best player is complicated but we have to take a step forward and learn to play without him,” Mascherano said.

Cavalier, which won the Jamaican Premier League title last season, advanced to this phase of the Champions Cup after winning the CONCACAF Caribbean Cup in December. The club remains scoreless in the Champions Cup after 2-0 and 4-0 losses against FC Cincinnati last year.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer