In a thrilling Major League Soccer (MLS) match, Lionel Messi came up clutch for Inter Miami in their away game against the LA Galaxy.
With minutes left on the clock, Messi scored the equalizer in the second minute of injury time to tie the score at 1-1.
In a beautiful team effort between Messi and Alba, both Barcelona players brought back their tiki-taka movement and it resulted in an outstanding stoppage-time goal.
Inter Miami's winless streak against the Galaxy looked poised to continue as LA took an early lead through Dejan Joveljic's 76th-minute goal.
However, with LA down to ten men following Mark Delgado's second yellow card, Messi capitalized on the opportunity to salvage a point for his team.
The Argentine virtuoso propelled himself forward to place a chipped shot, which cleared McCarthy's reach and entered the goal.
The exciting conclusion left the boisterous audience at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, buzzing with energy.
LA Galaxy are known for their high-profile veteran signings, but this season they are rebuilding without big names like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Javier Hernández.
Impressively outshooting Miami by a margin of 2:1, the young Galaxy squad put continuous pressure on their opponents' defense.
Despite Messi's creative efforts in attack, Inter Miami struggled to mount a consistent offense while maintaining a solid defense.
Gerardo Daniel "Tata" Martino, Argentine head coach of Inter Miami, himself a former player, admitted that they were outclassed in the first 45 but praised his team's determination to take a point and put a stop to their losing streak against LA Galaxy.
Late in the second half, Galaxy gained the upper hand and ultimately scored a goal.
However, their victory was short-lived as Messi equalized at the death.
We were outplayed in the first half, we could have gone into the dressing room a goal down.
Gerardo Martino
Messi's goal marked his first in MLS competition and Inter Miami's first road point of the season.
The result keeps Inter Miami unbeaten after their opening two games, while LA Galaxy are left to ponder what could have been had they held on for a win.
The Enthusiasm surrounding the Prominence of the MLS
"It represents everything we wanted this sport to be and have worked so hard for," said Don Garber, head of MLS, who met with Galaxy owner Phil Anschutz and former player David Beckham before the game.
Regarding the game where Messi's goal also placed them as the leader of the Eastern Conference at 4 points, Martino had this to say, "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 ."
Fans from both teams turned out in large numbers for the match, with thousands wearing Messi shirts among the record 27,642 in attendance.
The MLS game showcased the thrilling, cutthroat nature of the competition and the high-level skill of the athletes on Inter Miami's lineup: Drake Callender (GK) - 8/10, DeAndre Yedlin (SB) - 6/10, Tomás Avilés (CB) - 7/10, Serhiy Kryvtsov (CB) - 7/10, Jordi Alba (LB) - 8/10, Julian Gressel (CM) - 6/10, Diego Gómez (CM) - 7/10, Lionel Messi (RW) - 9/10, Luis Suárez (ST) - 7/10, and Robert Taylor (LW) - 7/10.
The race for the playoffs in both the Eastern and Western conferences is heating up, each game carrying significant weight.
Inter Miami's next game is against in-state rivals Orlando City on March 2, while LA Galaxy faces FC Dallas on February 28.
Inter Miami and LA Galaxy will meet again later in the season, setting up a potential thrilling rematch.
