Awaziem’s winning run ends as Cincinnati and Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami crash out of Leagues Cup

Chidozie Awaziem suffered his first defeat in the colours of Cincinnati FC as Pat Noonan’s side fell to a 4-2 loss to Philadelphia Union to crash out of the Leagues Cup, Soccernet.ng reports.

Awaziem’s arrival at Cincinnati had sparked an excellent run of three straight wins against Querétaro, New York City, and Santos Laguna to reach the competition’s Round of 16.

However, the former Boavista defender lost his lucky charm early on Wednesday morning as Cincinnati battled in vain against Philadelphia Union.

After a goalless first half, the visitors scored twice in ten minutes to put Cincinnati on the back foot.

However, Pavel Bucha and DeAndre Yedlin found the net in succession to drag the home side back on levelled terms.

Philadelphia Union had the last laugh inside the TQL Stadium, though, scoring twice in the last ten minutes to advance to the quarterfinals.

While Awaziem featured from start to end for Cincinnati, compatriot Obinna Nwobodo was substituted in the 85th minute as the hosts looked for a way back into the tie.

Elsewhere, Inter Miami crashed out of the Leagues Cup after falling to a 3-2 loss at Columbus Crew.

Without the injured Lionel Messi, Inter Miami had edged to a 4-3 triumph over Toronto in the last round and started brilliantly inside the Lower.com Field in Ohio with the first two goals of the game.

However, Columbus Crew fought back impressively with three goals in 13 minutes, including a brace from Uruguay’s Diego Rossi, to send Inter Miami out of the competition.