Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba combined to produce a magical moment that rescued an agonizing draw in Inter Miami’s visit to Los Angeles Galaxy.
Although all seemed lost and the Florida side were heading for a defeat, with Messi you can’t count anything out until the final whistle and the Argentine did it again, scoring the equalizer in stoppage time to level the score at 1-1.
Lionel Messi’s chip over injured defender left his Inter Miami teammates in disbelief
The euphoria in the stands with the fans who came to see Messi in California erupted and in the Inter Miami suite everyone was congratulating themselves on yet another feat by their captain, except for one person, David Beckham, who stayed in his seat while the rest celebrated, something akin to players who score against their former teams and even offer apologies.
The Inter co-owner didn’t go that far, but he gave the impression that he wanted to be respectful to the Galaxy, the club he played for from 2007 to 2012, where he won a pair of MLS Cups.
In the box at Dignity Health Sports Park were his sons Brooklyn and Cruz, along with Hollywood stars Edward Norton and Liv Tyler, among other guests. Everyone was happy with Messi’s heroic goal, but Beckham kept a poker face, even-tempered, despite the importance of his captain’s goal.
A rousing ending in Los Angeles
It looked as if things were not going Inter Miami’s way, Luis Suarez left the field on 67 minutes to make way for Leonardo Campana and eight minutes later, the Galaxy used their speed to orchestrate a counter-attack, where Dejan Joveljic pushed the ball into the back of the net, a goal that was delayed in its VAR review.
Inter poured forward, and Lionel Messi came close to levelling the scores in the 89th minute after collecting from the boot of Sergio Busquets and firing a left-footed shot, but the ball flew just wide of McCarthy’s goal.
It was in stoppage time when old Barcelona team-mates Jordi Alba and Messi linked up and the Argentinian managed to breach McCarthy’s goal and end the game with a share of the points.
Inter have four points, while the Galaxy have their first point on their debut in the 2024 MLS season.
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