Messi saves Miami
The Los Angeles Galaxy were five minutes away from beating Lionel Messi and Inter Miami.
But it was enough time for the world’s greatest player to rescue Inter Miami and make his mark in Los Angeles.
Messi scored a sliding kick in the 92nd minute of the match to save Inter Miami, resulting in a 1-1 draw against the Galaxy on Sunday night, to wrap the opening weekend of the 2024 MLS season.
Inter Miami coach Tata Martino credited the tie to “the genius of Leo.”
Messi and Inter Miami were frustrated for 90 minutes and on the brink of their first loss in the second match of the season.
It also appeared Messi, the 2022 World Cup champion and eight-time Ballon d’Or winner as soccer’s best player, would go scoreless in two MLS matches.
But no lead is safe with Messi on the pitch in front of a sell-out crowd of 27,642 fans, the largest for a Galaxy match at Dignity Health Sports Park.
Messi and his longtime friend and Barcelona teammate Jordi Alba continued to work, trading passes back and forth until Messi scored with a left boot inside the goal area to tie the match two minutes into extra time.
Galaxy’s Dejan Joveljic scored following a rebound in the 75th minute to take a 1-0 lead.
Until that point, Inter Miami goalie Drake Callender was the player of the match, finishing with eight saves after fending off multiple shots from Galaxy standouts like Riqui Puig, Joseph Paintsil and Miki Yamane.
“It was thanks in large part to him that the team was still in the match after the first half,” Martino said of Callender.
Besides Callender’s standout play, Inter Miami largely struggled until Messi’s breakout moment.
Inter Miami appeared slow and old because of their former Barcelona stars not named Messi and Alba. Midfielder Sergio Busquets struggled, mostly in the first half.
Luis Suarez struggled throughout the match, leaving in the 67th minute as a substitute. He nearly had a shot on goal before halftime but could not get enough of it in the goal area. It still would not have counted with Alba ruled offside in the sequence.
“I feel that the team’s best moment came after the substitutions,” Martino said.
Messi nearly scored in the 89th minute, with his left boot just a bit outside the post after he tried to sneak one into the back of the net past Galaxy goalie John McCarthy, who had four saves before the tying goal.
Galaxy’s Mark Delgado picked up his second yellow card in the 88th minute, resulting in a red card and an ejection. The Galaxy finished the match with 10 players.
Messi led all players with eight shots in the match, three of them on target.