CINCINNATI (AP) — Lionel Messi had a goal and three assists and Tadeo Allende scored twice as Inter Miami beat FC Cincinnati 4-0 Sunday to advance to its first Eastern Conference final.
Miami will host New York City FC, a 1-0 winner over the Philadelphia Union in the other conference semifinal, on Saturday. The winner advances to the MLS Cup on Dec. 6.
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Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi, second from right, celebrates after scoring during the first half of MLS soccer's Eastern Conference semifinal against FC Cincinnati, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Tanner Pearson)
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi looks on during the first half of MLS soccer's Eastern Conference semifinal against FC Cincinnati, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Tanner Pearson)
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) controls the ball as FC Cincinnati forward Corey Baird (11) defends during the first half of MLS soccer's Eastern Conference semifinal Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Tanner Pearson)
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) scores as FC Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano, third from left, tries to defend during the first half of MLS soccer's Eastern Conference semifinal Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Tanner Pearson)
“Proud of how the team played on a very, very difficult field and against a very, very tough opponent,” Miami head coach Javier Mascherano said through a translator. "I think from the first minute it wasn’t about holding back. It was about going after the game and being ourselves. I think today the players played a virtually perfect match.”
Messi set an MLS playoff record with 12 goal contributions (six goals, six assists).
Cincinnati had the second-best overall record in MLS behind Philadelphia after winning the Supporters Shield last season. Cincinnati lost to the Columbus Crew in last year's conference finals.
“Tough night to end this way,” FC Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan said. “Credit to Miami. They were better tonight. To the fans, sorry how it ended. It's disappointing. You have to own it.”
Messi had been scoreless in three matches against Cincinnati, but that streak ended in the 19th minute Sunday when he headed a short cross from Mateo Silvetti, giving Miami a 1-0 lead. Messi, a World Cup champion with Argentina and eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, had his 11th goal in the last seven games.
Nine minutes after scoring, Messi found himself alone with the keeper, but his shot toward the far post sailed wide.
Cincinnati's best scoring chance came in the first half when Ender Echenique sent a header across the box to Evander, who shot over the bar.
Miami had seven shots on goal to Cincinnati's four.
“We looked confident in front of goal," Noonan said. “We turned the ball over too much in dangerous areas. We gave too much time to Messi. We didn't protect that space.”
Miami made it a two-goal lead 10 minutes into the second half when Silvetti beat Cincinnati keeper Roman Celentano with a shot from the left side of the box.
“It’s obviously an honor as a striker to score my first goal wearing this jersey," Silvetti said via a translator. "I’m very happy. Whenever I can help the team, it’s even better, so I’m happy about that.”
Silvetti replaced Luis Suarez, who was suspended from Miami's previous playoff match against Nashville due to violent conduct. Mascherano decided to keep him out of the lineup on Sunday.
In the 62nd minute, Messi threaded a pass through the defense to Allende, who made it 3-0. Allende scored again in the 74th minute.
Cincinnati beat Miami 3-0 at home on July 16, and played to a scoreless draw at Fort Lauderdale on July 26. Messi was in the lineup for the first meeting, but not the second.
“We're playing to win trophies,” Noonan said. “We'll continue to push to make that a reality.”
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Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi, second from right, celebrates after scoring during the first half of MLS soccer's Eastern Conference semifinal against FC Cincinnati, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Tanner Pearson)
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi looks on during the first half of MLS soccer's Eastern Conference semifinal against FC Cincinnati, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Tanner Pearson)
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) controls the ball as FC Cincinnati forward Corey Baird (11) defends during the first half of MLS soccer's Eastern Conference semifinal Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Tanner Pearson)
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) scores as FC Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano, third from left, tries to defend during the first half of MLS soccer's Eastern Conference semifinal Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Tanner Pearson)
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Thousands of people rallied Saturday in the cradle of the modern Civil Rights Movement to mobilize a new voting rights era as conservative states dismantle congressional districts that helped secure Black political representation.
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey called Montgomery “sacred soil” in the fight for civil rights.
“If we in our generation do not now do our duty, we will lose the gains and the rights and the liberties that our ancestors afforded us,” Booker said.
The crowd was led in chants of “we won’t go back” and “we fight.”
“We are not going down without a fight. We are not going down to Jim Crow maps,” Shalela Dowdy, a plaintiff in the Alabama redistricting case said.
A crowd of thousands gathered in front of the city’s historic Alabama Capitol, the place where the Confederacy was formed in 1861 and where the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke in 1965 at the end of the Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March. The stage, set in front of the Capitol, was flanked from behind by statues of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and civil rights icon Rosa Parks — dueling tributes erected nearly 90 years apart.
Speakers said the spot was once the temple of the confederacy and became holy ground of the civil rights movement.
Some in the crowd said the effort to redraw lines has echoes of the past.
“We lived through the “60s. It takes you back. When you think that Alabama’s moving forward, it takes two steps back,” said Camellia A Hooks, 70, of Montgomery, Alabama.
The rally began in Selma, where a violent clash between law enforcement and voting rights activists in 1965 galvanized support for passage of the Voting Rights Act. It then moved to the state Capitol, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “How Long, Not Long” speech that same year.
A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving Louisiana hollowed out voting rights law that was already weakened by a separate decision in 2013 and then narrowed further over the years. That helped clear the way for stricter voter ID laws, registration restrictions, and limits on early voting and polling place changes, including in states that once needed federal preclearance before they could change voting laws because of their historical discrimination against Black voters.
Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement are alarmed by the speed of the rollbacks, noting that protections won through generations of sacrifice have been weakened in little more than a decade.
Kirk Carrington, 75, was a teen in 1965 when law enforcement officers attacked marchers in Selma on what became known as “Bloody Sunday.” A white man on a horse wielding a stick chased Carrington through the streets.
“It’s really just appalling to me and all the young people that marched during the ’60s, fought hard to get voting rights, equal rights and civil rights,” Carrington said. “It’s sad that it’s continuing after 60-plus-odd years that we are still fighting for the same thing we fought for back then.”
Montgomery is home to one of the congressional districts that is being altered in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.
A federal court in 2023 redrew Alabama's 2nd Congressional District after ruling that the state intentionally diluted the voting power of Black residents, who make up about 27% of its population. The court said there should be a district where Black people are a majority or near-majority and have an opportunity to elect their candidate of choice.
But the Supreme Court cleared the way for a different map that could let the GOP reclaim the seat. While the matter remains under litigation, the state plans special primaries Aug. 11 under the new map.
Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures, who won election in the district in 2024, said the dispute is not about him but rather people's opportunity to have representation.
“When Republicans are literally turning back the clock on what representation, what the faces of representation, look like, what the opportunities, legitimate opportunities for representation look like across this country, then I think it starts to resonate with people in a little bit of a different way,” Figures said.
Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, a Republican, said the Louisiana ruling provided an opportunity to revisit a map that was forced on the state by the federal court.
“People tend to forget what happened. When this thing went to court, the Republican Party had that seat, congressional seat two,” Ledbetter said last week. “There’s been a push through the courts to try to overtake some of these red state seats, and that’s certainly what happened in that one.”
Evan Milligan, the lead plaintiff in the Alabama redistricting case, said there is grief over the implosion of the Voting Rights Act but it is crucial that people recommit to the fight.
“We have to accept that this is the new reality, whether we like it or not,” Milligan said. “We don’t have to accept that this will be the reality for the next 10 years or two years or forever.”
A man sings a spirtual song during a voting rally, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
The State capitol is seen during a voting rally, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
A protestor holds a sign of the late Georgia Congressman John Lewis during a voting rally, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
A man sings a spirtual song during a voting rally, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
A protestor holds a sign of the late Georgia Congressman John Lewis during a voting rally, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
U.S. Sen Corey Booker, D-NY., has his photo taken during a voting rally, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
People gather during a voting rally, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
U.S. Sen Corey Booker, D-NY., has his photo taken during a voting rally, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Aaron McGuire sings a spirtual song during a voting rally, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
