Lionel Messi reached a rare milestone, scoring the 900th goal of his club and international career, but it was Nashville SC who celebrated in the end. The two teams played to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday night in Fort Lauderdale, and Nashville advanced to the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals on the away-goals rule.

How the match unfolded

Messi opened the scoring in the seventh minute after a setup from Sergio Reguilon. The Argentina star finished from about 10 yards, the shot squeezing between a defender on its way to the net.

Miami could not add to their lead. Nashville found the equalizer in the second half through Cristian Espinoza. A chaotic sequence in front of Miami's goal started with an Alex Muyl effort that was blocked. The Miami goalkeeper Dayne St Clair punched the loose ball away, but the rebound dropped to an unmarked Espinoza, who drilled a right-footed shot inside the far post.

With the tie 1-1 over two legs, Nashville moved on thanks to the away-goals tiebreaker. The club will face either the Philadelphia Union or Mexico's Club America in the quarterfinals.

Milestone context

The 900-goal mark puts Messi in extremely rare company. He is now just behind Cristiano Ronaldo in the men's career goals list, with Ronaldo on 965.

Club America holds on to reach quarters

In the other tie, Club America advanced 2-1 on aggregate after a 1-1 draw with the Philadelphia Union in Mexico City. Club America had won the first leg 1-0 in Philadelphia.

Rodrigo Dourado opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a header from a line-drive free kick delivered by Raphael Veiga. Philadelphia replied early in the second half when Jesus Bueno converted a penalty in the 49th minute following a foul on Frankie Westfield by Alex Zendejas.

Philadelphia failed to register a shot on target after that penalty. They missed three attempts and had another blocked. Goalkeeper Andrew Rick made two first-half saves, but the Union could not overturn the aggregate deficit.

The Pixel Gazette will follow the draw to see who Nashville will meet in the next round.