Inter Miami bailed out against Cavalier FC on controversial call | OneFootball

If you only looked at the final score, you'd believe Inter Miami got a satisfactory -- if perhaps underwhelming -- result against Cavalier FC in their 2-0 home win in Leg 1 of their Concacaf Champions Cup series on Thursday night.

But in truth, the Herons flirted with disaster in the round-of-16 encounter, particularly during first-half stoppage time when it appeared the visitors had taken a shock lead.

With Lionel Messi sidelined for a second straight match due to load management, Cavalier striker Shaquille Stein appeared to have given the visitors a shock lead just before halftime following this well-worked set piece. Here's what the goal looked like in real time:

But after a lengthy video review -- in which Guatemalan referee Mario Escobar was eventually called to the monitor to see series of angles -- the goal was overturned to keep affairs level going into halftime.

While there is no pool report quote from the referee, given that this was a Concacaf competition, this appeared to be a case of interpretion of the law rather than a Black-and-White decision. What Escobar ultimately had to determine is whether Jerome McLeary -- the player clearly beyond the offside line in the photo below -- was involved in the play to a level to be considered in violation of the offside law.

Miami fans might respond that their side still scored enough goals to win Leg 1 anyway, but there are two truths at play here.

The first is that tired but true expression, "goals change games." It's impossible to know exactly what the complexion of the second half would have been from tactical and territorial perspective had Stein's goal been given.

The second is that even a 2-1 defeat for Cavalier would've been a far better result than 2-0, given the tournament's use of the away goals rule. At 2-1, Cavalier could have won the series outright with any two-goal win, or a 1-0 win in Leg 2 in a week's time. And a 2-1 win would've forced extra time.

Instead, the Jamaicans now need to win by at least two goals, and by three if the Herons can find at least one goal in their visit to "The Office," the national staidum in Kingston where a sold-out crowd of 35,000 will be waiting.