All it took was five minutes for Lionel Messi to make his mark at the start of Inter Miami’s 2025 Major League Soccer season.
About 95 minutes later, Messi shined again, saving Inter Miami’s night.
Messi found new teammate Telasco Segovia, trailing on his right side, and delivered his second assist of the game in the 100th minute to help Inter Miami escape with a 2-2 draw at home against New York City FC on Saturday at Chase Stadium.
“He’s the soul of this team, you saw this on the pitch. He’s like a kid playing, and he doesn’t want to lose,” Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said of Messi, his former teammate with Barcelona and Argentina.
“So, for us, it’s a big, big advantage. We need to keep him with this spirit because it’s not just what he does on the pitch. It’s what he translates to his teammates, and all that he does with his 37 years. … It’s magnificent.”
It was an ugly affair for Inter Miami in the club’s first home match of the year until Messi’s heroics. Inter Miami played with just 10 men since the 26th minute after an early ejection, and trailed 2-1 since the 55th minute.It was also Inter Miami’s second match of the week after playing in subfreezing temperatures at Sporting Kansas City in the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup first-round series on Wednesday. Inter Miami has played seven matches in 35 days to start the year.
Inter Miami pleaded with MLS to push Saturday’s match to Sunday, Mascherano said, after the SKC match was delayed from Tuesday to Wednesday. The match started at 7:30 p.m. ET, five hours later than its original start time. Inter Miami’s Fafa Picault and Marcelo Weigandt left the match early due to muscle injuries. Luis Suarez and Benjamin Cremaschi, who got a yellow card in the 41st minute, were substituted out early in the second half for fresher legs. Inter Miami was already without midfielder Yannick Bright (thigh), goalie Drake Callender (adductor), and defender David Martínez (ankle).
“Less than 72 hours ago, we played at minus-24 degrees. And today, they ran like horses,” Mascherano said.
Messi started the match turning a set play into a dynamic assist, finding 21-year-old Inter Miami defender Toto Aviles in front of the net for a goal in the fifth minute for an early 1-0 lead.
Messi tapped his corner kick to David Ruiz, before getting the ball back. Messi found Jordi Alba just outside the penalty arc, and Alba returned the ball to Messi cutting inside the penalty box. Messi tapped his pass with his left foot to Aviles, who sent it into the bottom-left corner of the net.
About 20 minutes later, however, Aviles received a red card and was ejected for pulling down NYCFC’s Alonso Martínez.
Mitja Ilenič scored in the 26th minute shortly after the ejection to tie it, before Martínez scored in the 55th minute to give NYCFC a 2-1 lead over Inter Miami.
Before halftime, Messi, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez were pleading with referees at midfield, while Mascherano argued on the sidelines.
NYCFC’s Strahinja Tanasijević fouled Suarez shortly after he picked up a yellow card for fouling Busquets. Tanasijević, however, did not pick up a second yellow card, which would’ve led to his ejection and both sides playing the rest of the match with 10 players.
