Bank of America Stadium- The “Queen City” wears the crown, Charlotte FC won convincingly 3-0 over Lionel Messi and Inter Miami on Saturday night in North Carolina. Idan Toklomati scored his first hat trick to lead the way for Charlotte. The “King” of futbol, Lionel Messi, suffered another disappointing setback with Miami on the road.
Starting XI
Oscar Ustari started in goal for the Herons, with Jordi Alba, Maxi Falcon, Tomas Aviles, and Ian Fray the back four—Sergio Busquets, Rodrigo Depaul, and Yannick Bright the midfield trio—Telasco Segovia, Lionel Messi, and Tadeo Allende the forwards.
Starting XI for #InterMiamiCF 🆚 Charlotte..Avilés gets the nod at center back & Allende gets an opportunity to play striker in place of suspended Luis Suarez..#MLS #MLSes #LemonCitylive https://t.co/er3l3aWcOb
— Xavier Guerrero (@XGLAVOZ) September 13, 2025
Match Action
Lionel Messi had a penalty attempt blocked by Kahlina, who stood his ground, easily blocking Messi’s chip towards goal.
Don't test the GOAT 🇭🇷🧱 pic.twitter.com/T7jRB8q3qR
— x – Charlotte FC (@CharlotteFC) September 14, 2025
The errant kick ignited Charlotte; two minutes later, a lethal counterattack led to an Idan Toklomati score and a 1-0 lead.
Toklomati, with the assist from Vargas gives Charlotte the 1-0 lead..#InterMiamiCF #MLS #MLSes
pic.twitter.com/2qcL0CyTOt— Xavier Guerrero (@XGLAVOZ) September 14, 2025
Toklomati secured a brace in the 47th minute after Zaha served him with the assist for the 2-0 score.
Toklomati once again is in the right spot to double Charlotte’s lead & secure his brace..#InterMiamiCF #MLS
pic.twitter.com/T8vWAZWiv0— Xavier Guerrero (@XGLAVOZ) September 14, 2025
The young attacker would conquer his hat trick with a well-placed penalty kick past Oscar Ustari. Sergio Busquets committed the penalty on Zaha, and Toklomati made it count, sentencing the match to a final 3-0 scoreline.
A bad night in Charlotte gets worst as Busquets commits a penalty on Zaha & Toklomati scores his third goal of the night on the penalty kick..#InterMiamiCF #MLS #MLSes
— Xavier Guerrero (@XGLAVOZ) September 14, 2025
Postgame
A quote from Charlotte’s Coach, Dean Smith, after the match really caught my attention. He referenced how acquiring Drake Callender put pressure on Kahlina, and that pressure has helped him improve his performance on the season,
We brought Drake Callender in to put pressure on Kahli, and boy, has he stepped up to it.. We want pressure in each position in the team. That’s the only way a team evolves and gets better.
Perhaps, this is exactly what Inter Miami CF needs: for their players to feel the pressure. It’s a unique situation for the Herons with Messi, the Barca boys, Rodrigo De Paul, and Oscar Ustari. Six of Inter Miami’s starters are basically shoe-ins that have no challenge whatsoever for their positions. At times, the team seems to lack passion or intensity, and maybe they are too comfortable and sure of their status as the stars of the team. I don’t know how that can be resolved, but I do know that it’s not a good thing for the squad. Of the players mentioned, only Messi has carried his weight this season for this team, in my opinion.
Final Thoughts
The Heron’s current form is worrisome. Miami does not look like a contender for the MLS Cup, and if this is the case, then the current blueprint of the team needs to be blown up. Messi can stay, but all the other add-ons need to be replaced with younger, less expensive ones. Inter Miami has now lost back-to-back games by a 3-0 score to Seattle Sounders and Charlotte FC. The team has looked lackluster and unmotivated in both matches, which is quite surprising. Star players of the caliber of Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Luis Suarez, and Rodrigo Depaul should be performing much better for the squad. Messi, up until now, has been the only “star” player to play as such. The organization needs to get its money’s worth from them this season, because next season, I have a hunch two of them won’t be back, and if it were up to me, neither would a third.
Toto Aviles has been disastrous this season. The young defender should be enjoying a breakout season, but instead has been more of the same. Aviles has continued to make silly mistakes on the ball and when defending. He’s had enough time in Miami to improve on his weaknesses, and he has not. The team needs to move on from him via loan, trade, or sale.
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