Lionel Messi’s last-gasp goal earns Inter Miami a draw against LA Galaxy in front of star-studded crowd
By Matias Grez, CNN
(CNN) — The stars were out in force to watch Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami against LA Galaxy in Sunday’s 1-1 draw – and the Argentine, unsurprisingly, didn’t disappoint.
Tennis world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, actors Halle Berry, Edward Norton and Liv Tyler, musician Anderson Paak, footballers Tobin Heath and Christen Press and WNBA legend Diana Taurasi were all in attendance to sample Messimania for themselves.
LA Galaxy, once a home for some of Major League Soccer’s superstar signings following David Beckham’s arrival in 2007, took the lead in the 75th minute through Serbian striker Dejan Joveljić.
Despite its new star-studded lineup, which now also features Luis Saurez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, Inter Miami was thoroughly outplayed for much of the match and looked to be heading for defeat until Messi’s intervention in the 92nd minute.
Fans will likely have experienced déjà vu for the equalizer as former Barcelona teammates Messi and Alba turned back the clock, passing the ball between themselves four times before the Argentine finished the move by sliding in and steering the ball past Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy.
Miami was aided by a red card shown to Galaxy midfielder Marco Delgado in the 88th minute after Busquets appeared to dive, with the referee showing the American a second yellow.
Despite this being a home game for the Galaxy, a significant roar went up in the stadium as the goal went in, before pockets of Argentina and Miami fans started bowing to Messi from the stands.
Former Galaxy star Beckham, who has a statue outside of the the club’s stadium and is now a part-owner of Inter Miami, didn’t celebrate the equalizing goal against his former team.
“It’s true that they dominated the first half, especially with the period in which Riqui Puig had the most amount of time with the ball and made the team play very well,” Miami coach Gerardo Martino said after the match, per MLS.
“They recently got their last two DPs [Designated Players] and because of that, the team looks completely different,” Martino added, referring to Galaxy stars Riqui Puig and Joseph Paintsil. “Because they have a great No. 9 and also two dangerous wingers, and also they’re very solid defensively.
“But then we had the personality to continue searching, and we reached the tie, well, you could say with the genius of Leo.”
Additonally, Sunday’s performance came hours before Messi reach 500 million Instagram followers, the second most on the app behind only long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
