CARSON, Calif. Anyone who thought that Lionel Messi and Inter Miami were going to overthrow the rest of Major League Soccer this year has already been proven wrong by the upstart LA Galaxy.
Messi was still bright enough to keep Miami unbeaten by another MLS Club after an early Season Test.
Messi scored in the second minute of added time of the second half on a pass from Jordi Alba, and Miami saved a 1-1 draw against the Galaxy on Sunday night.
Dejan Joveljic scored in the 75th Minute for the Galaxy, who were about to give Messi and his new MLS powerhouse a surprising blow in pre-season — but with THE reduced to 10 men, the Argentine Superstar still made a little Magic.
After making a sequence of passes with Alba, his longtime teammate at Barcelona, Messi slid forward and fired into the roof of the net via Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy.
The goal created another thrill for the raucous crowd that cheered on both teams in Miami’s first road game of the season. Thousands of Fans wore Messi jerseys among the 27,642 spectators -a record for a Galaxy regular-season game at their suburban stadium.
“It was their first home game, and the atmosphere was pretty electrifying,” said Miami guard Drake Callender, whose eight saves included a stop on an early Riqui Puig penalty kick. “It’s still early in the Season, so there are things we need to work on, but to win a point on the road is good. We don’t want to get comfortable at all. We have a long Season ahead of us.”
Inter Miami are big betting favourites, dominating the MLS this season after Messi and Luis Suárez were United alongside ex-Barca Stars Sergio Busquets and Alba—but everyone on Messi’s side knows it won’t be easy.
Miami won its first match of the season at home last Wednesday, but four days after, during Messi’s first appearance against the club that once employed Inter co-owner David Beckham, was frequently overtaken by the reconstruction Galaxy.
The Galaxy is famous for the kind of high-profile veteran signings Miami has amassed over the past year, but the Los Angeles club is rebuilding this time without big names. The young Galaxy has always exerted more consistent rude pressure than the League’s new flagship team, collecting 23 shots out of Miami’s 11 and repeatedly generating opportunities in the penalty area.
“Playing against fantastic players doesn’t scare you,” said Galaxy striker Joseph Paintsil, who impressed on his debut. “This should give you a boost to be the best Version of yourself. … You can see that we have really young and talented players in this team. We just need a little time because we have just arrived.”
Miami responded to the Galaxy’s strike with a body defense, but was unable to put together a coherent response despite Messi’s game setup. Puig-a product of Barca’s famous La Masia Academy — was his usual excellent self in the galaxy’s midfield, while first—year students Paintsil – who fired the first penalty past Busquets with a smart run – and Gabriel Pec made an immediate impact on their debut.
“It’s true, they dominated the first half,” Miami coach Gerardo”Tata” Martino said. “Puig made them play very well, and it is clear that (with) their two new players, the team is completely different because they have a good number 9 and two wingers who are peril. They made a good play.”
After getting better chances and controlling possession for much of the night, the Galaxy finally broke through at the end of the second half. Callender saved on Puig’s shot, but Mark Delgado controlled the rebound and headed to a wide-open Joveljic for a goal.
Delgado was sent off with a second yellow card in the 87th Minute for a very arguable foul, and Messi had a golden opportunity two minutes after when Alba found him with a pass at the top of the Galaxy penalty area. The superstar’s shot flew far to the left, leaving him rubbing his forehead in disappointment.
On another Chance four minutes after, Messi did not miss.
The stadium south of downtown Los Angeles was two hours away from Messi’s first match against the Galaxy, a five-time MLS champion franchise long known as a destination of choice for European Superstars looking for a new home after reaching their mid-thirties, full and full of excitement.
Beckham, who catalyzed the growth of MLS with his move to the Galaxy in 2007, has a Statue in front of the team’s stadium. He is also one of the main reasons for Inter’s rise in the role that the galaxy has long occupied, which has occupied Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard and Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the end of their careers.
The excitement around this match has been a thrill for MLS Commissioner Don Garber.
“It kind of represents everything we wanted from this Sport and have worked so hard for so many years,” said Garber, who met with Beckham and Galaxy owner Phil Anschutz before the game. “Everyone is working hard to build on this momentum. … For me, a lot of it is about where we were in 2007 and where we are today.”