Nashville SC becomes first to hold Messi scoreless as Inter Miami player

Inter Miami had Lionel Messi and Nashville lacked two stars.

And yet, Nashville can walk away feeling good about a scoreless draw in Florida on Wednesday.

Nashville became the first club to hold superstar Lionel Messi scoreless since he joined Inter Miami in June and is the first to hold Miami scoreless with Messi in its lineup.

Nashville (11-6-9, 39 points) remains in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, still in line for an MLS Cup Playoffs bid. The top seven teams from each conference receive automatic bids, while the No. 8 and 9 seeds play in a Wild Card round.

Less than two weeks ago, Messi scored to help Miami defeat Nashville in penalty kicks during the Leagues Cup final, giving Inter Miami its first trophy and denying Nashville its first hardware.

Messi had his moments Wednesday.

With three minutes left in extra time, Nashville goalkeeper Elliot Panicco — who got a clean sheet in his first MLS start for SC —blocked Messi’s right-footed shot from the right side for his fourth save of the game.

Messi finished with seven scoring attempts and two on-target attempts, including two free kicks.

Nashville played shorthanded with stars Walker Zimmerman and Sam Surridge unavailable. Hany Mukhtar came off the bench and co-led SC with two scoring attempts, both in the second half. Teal Bunbury also finished with two attempts.

Nashville's defense shined when it mattered. Miami won possession time 69.1% to 30.9%, including a shot (13-7) and shot-on-goal (4-2) advantage.

Nashville will host 11th-place Charlotte (7-9-9) on Saturday before a two-game road swing at Western Conference opponents Kansas City (Sept. 20) and San Jose (Sept. 23).