An 86th-minute free kick golazo from Lionel Messi helped spark a late comeback for Inter Miami as they earned a point on the road against the Philadelphia Union in a 3-3 draw Saturday night.
The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner stepped up with the Herons trailing by two goals with four minutes to spare, drilling home a brilliant left-footed strike from the top of the box for his sixth goal of the MLS campaign. With a boost of momentum, the South Beach side, in the last minute of stoppage-time, found an equalizer on a goal by Telasco Segovia.
From the edge of the box, Segovia curled home an effort into the top corner of the net to make it 3-3 in the dying seconds of the match - completing the riveting comeback and earning Miami a point on the road.
With the result, though, Miami are still winless in seven of their last eight matches. It was a dominant performance from the Union all match long, but a bit of Messi magic went a long way to ensure Miami didn't leave empty handed.
Quinn Sullivan, U.S. men's national team call-up for the CONCACAF Gold Cup training camp, opened the scoring for Philly as the 20-year-old nailed a belter of a curling effort just seven minutes in off a short corner kick.
MLS Golden Boot leader Tai Baribo then doubled the Union's lead minutes before halftime, furthering their advantage ahead of the break. Miami earned a goal back in the 60th minute off a lovely header from winger Tadeo Allende - the beginning of their eventual comeback.
Baribo, however, responded with his second of the game to make it 3-1 with 16 minutes to spare, thinking he'd bagged the dagger that earned his club all three points. That was until Messi stepped up.
His brilliant free kick brought the South Beach club back into the mix as the final whistle neared. It wasn't a pretty game for the Herons by any means. Their defense was exploited all match long, and Philly outshot them 18 to 10.
With just one win in their last eight across all competitions, though, a point might be viewed as successful for Miami.
GOAL rates Inter Miami's players from Subaru Park.
