FC Cincinnati falls to Messi's Inter Miami in penalty shootout

CINCINNATI — The Orange and Blue fell to one of the hottest teams in the league Wednesday night, ending their U.S. Open Cup run.

A Lionel Messi-captained Inter Miami defeated FC Cincinnati 5-4 during a penalty shootout in the Open Cup semifinals at TQL Stadium.

With arguably the world's greatest soccer player on the pitch, the match was FC Cincinnati's 11th sell-out of the season, with attendance totaling 25,513. Bengals DE Sam Hubbard — joined by teammates Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd — kicked things off by pulling the ceremonial sword beforehand.

Messi's Argentina teammate, FCC captain Luciano Acosta, struck first with a goal in the 18th minute. Brandon Vazquez added on in the 53rd minute, helping FCC lead 2-0.

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But where there's Messi, there's magic. Inter Miami refused to go away in the second half.

A Messi free kick to Leonardo Campana cut the deficit to one goal. Then, in the final minutes of stoppage time, Messi once again took control. Another assist to Campana tied it up 2-2.

As the two teams went into extra time, it felt like everything was going Miami's way. In the 93rd minute, Josef Martinez scored to give the visitors the lead, 3-2.

After multiple chances, FCC's Yuya Kubo finally connected in the 114th minute — once again tying the game. For the third time since Messi joined Miami, the match went to a penalty shootout.

With a ticket to the Open Cup final on the line, FC Cincinnati scored four of five PKs, while Inter Miami made them all.

FC Cincinnati took down Louisville City, New York City FC, the New York Red Bulls and Pittsburgh Riverhounds FC to get to the semifinals.