Lionel Messi misses third straight penalty on horror night as Inter Miami routed and GOAT has ref row and freak miss

LIONEL MESSI endured a night to forget as Inter Miami fell to a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Nashville in the MLS. The GOAT is back playing club football in the US following the World Cup and the heartbreaking loss of his father. Lionel Messi suffered a nightmare evening in Nashville Credit: Getty He missed his third penalty attempt in a row Credit: Apple TV But he is still clearly not himself on the pitch as he suffered a bizarre series of misfortunes on a nightmare night in Nashville. Not least among the calamities was yet another penalty miss – the third time in a row the Argentina legend has failed to convert from the spot. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! The 39-year-old had the chance to level the score at 1-1 in the 23rd minute, but his tame effort was blocked by the goalkeeper down to his right side. Former Manchester United and Spurs star Sergio Reguilon turned in the rebound, before the goal was chalked for encroachment. It was Messi’s third missed spot kick in a row, having failed to score attempts in matches against Egypt and Austria at the World Cup. And his struggles didn’t end there in the clash, which constituted a third consecutive loss for the David Beckham-backed outfit. Messi was sure he was fouled in the build-up to former Nottingham Forest star Sam Surridge‘s goal. But his fierce complaints to the referee only earned him a yellow card for dissent. Most read in Sport CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS Messi also had a goal ruled out for offside and hit the post twice in three seconds Credit: Reuters With that incident still fresh in his mind, and after Hany Mukhtar added Nashville’s fourth goal of the night, Messi might have thought he had found his breakthrough when he latched onto a ball in the box in added time. His initial effort cannoned off the right post, only to bounce right back into his path, where he tried to steer it goalwards again only for it to this time hit the left post. And as a cherry on top of a disastrous evening for the Barcelona icon, he finally scored just minutes later only for that finish to be cancelled out for offside. Play Dream Team this season! £100,000 in prize money up for grabs in 2026/27 Free to enter Play in Mini Leagues against your mates £60,000 jackpot for the overall winner £1,000 prize for winning Gameweek 1 PLAY DREAM TEAM NOW! Comment now