Inter Miami and LA Galaxy play to a draw thanks to a late goal from Lionel Messi
With just five minutes remaining, the Los Angeles Galaxy had a golden opportunity to defeat Inter Miami and Lionel Messi. The best player in the world had just enough time to save Inter Miami and leave an indelible impression on the Los Angeles scene. Due to a slide kick by Lionel Messi in the 92nd minute, Inter Miami and the Galaxy were able to draw 1-1 on Sunday night to cap off the opening weekend of the 2024 Major League Soccer season.
Tata Martino, coach of Inter Miami, said that “the genius of Leo” was responsible for the tie. Messi and Inter Miami were vexed for the entire match, and they were on the verge of losing their first game of the season. And it seemed like Messi, who won the World Cup in 2022 and was named the greatest player in soccer eight times, would score zero goals in two matches for Major League Soccer.
On Sunday night, in a 1-1 tie between Inter Miami CF and the LA Galaxy, the legendary No. 10 scored his first goal of the 2024 Major League Soccer season.
Messi and Jordi Alba, who are both part of the Big Four and were formerly superstars for FC Barcelona, linked brilliantly down the left flank, just as they have countless times throughout their legendary careers. After Dejan Joveljic scored in the 75th minute, Alba capitalized on a gaping hole by setting up Messi for a sliding finish.
Inter Miami’s record for the year is 1W-0L-1D, thanks to their captain’s great performance. They travelled across the nation to face Los Angeles’s revamped attack, which includes Joveljic, Riqui Puig, Joseph Paintsil, and Gabriel Pec, after a 2-0 home victory over Real Salt Lake on Wednesday.
Inter Miami custodian Drake Callender was perhaps the best player on the pitch until Lionel Messi checked his score. Among his eight stops was one from Puig’s penalty shot in the first half.
The 27,642nd-largest Galaxy match ever at Dignity Health Sports Park sold out in full, but no lead is safe when Messi is on the field. As the match entered extra time, Messi and his longtime buddy and Barcelona teammate Jordi Alba kept working, exchanging passes until Messi scored a left-footed goal inside the penalty area two minutes later.
In the 75th minute, Galaxy took a 1-0 lead thanks to a goal by Dejan Joveljic, who converted a rebound.
Drake Callender, the Inter Miami custodian, had been named the game’s MVP up until that moment. He had saved numerous shots from Galaxy stars including Riqui Puig, Joseph Paintsil, and Miki Yamane, finishing with eight saves.
The fact that Inter Miami’s former Barcelona stars weren’t Messi or Alba gave the impression that the team was sluggish and elderly. Sergio Busquets, a midfielder, had a rough game, especially in the first half.
Luis Suarez was substituted out in the 67th minute due to his struggles throughout the encounter. Shortly before halftime, he almost scored a goal but just couldn’t get the ball into the net. It wouldn’t have mattered anyhow because Alba was adjudged offside throughout the sequence.
According to Martino, the team’s peak performance occurred following the substitutions.
In the 89th minute, Messi came close to scoring to beat Galaxy goalie John McCarthy—who made four saves prior to the game-tying goal—with his left boot that was barely outside the post.
The ejection and red card came one minute before Galaxy’s Mark Delgado received his second yellow card in the 88th minute. By the end of the competition, the Galaxy had used ten players.
Among all players, Messi had the most shots (8), with three of them finding the back of the net. Even though Inter Miami had more shots overall (23-11), the Galaxy nearly had twice as many shots on goal (9-5) throughout the match.
Following a back-to-back match in five nights, Inter Miami will face Orlando City at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET.
“I think we’ll be okay,” Callender stated following the game, “as long as we can keep playing consistently and fix up a few things that we’re working on tactically.” He was referring to the upcoming long season.
