Lionel Messi’s late assist helps salvage a 2-2 draw in Inter Miami’s MLS opener

Lionel Messi was undeterred by the frigid temperatures on Wednesday night, when he scored the only goal in Inter Miami’s 1-0 win against Sporting Kansas City in a CONCACAF Champions Cup match. Days later, he didn’t score in their MLS opener, but he came up huge in another way: with a late game-tying assist.

Telasco Segovia scored the tying goal in the 10th minute of stoppage time, and Inter Miami played New York City FC to a 2-2 draw Saturday night in front of a star-studded crowd that included tennis legend Serena Williams and actress Eva Longoria. 

On his second assist of the night, Messi hit a through ball to Segovia, who in his MLS debut finished with a nice shot from the right side of the box to the bottom left corner.

Inter Miami had played much of the second half down a goal. New York’s Alonso Martínez got an easy one past Oscar Ustari after Inter Miami defender Jordi Alba mistakenly made a pass directly to Martínez to put New York up 2-1 in the 55th minute.

But Messi, last season’s MLS MVP, helped his team rally, showing no signs of fatigue in his second match in three days.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner made his mark early. Just 72 hours after scoring the winner in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup’s first round, Messi took a pass from Alba in the fifth minute Saturday. Messi then fed it to Toto Aviles, who tapped it past New York’s Matthew Freese to the bottom left corner of the goal to put Miami ahead 1-0.

Aviles drew a red card later in the first half on a late sliding tackle inside the box, forcing Miami to play with 10 men the rest of the way. The foul set up the tying goal, which Mitja Ilenic scored on a bit of trickery. On a free kick, Santi Rodriguez sent a low pass to Ilenic, who Inter Miami did not account for lined up far to the left of their defensive line.

Ilenic fired a cross-body shot to the far post, as the smattering of New York fans at Chase Stadium erupted in cheers that lasted until the waning minutes of the match.

Miami entered this season with high expectations after finishing atop the Eastern Conference last year and winning the Supporters Shield before being surprisingly eliminated by Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs.

Under new head coach Javier Mascherano, they’re hoping to repeat their dominance.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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