Following his thigh injury, Lionel Messi is back in the MLS. On his comeback, he needed less than twelve minutes to score the equalizer for Inter Miami. However, it was not enough to beat Colorado.
In Messi’s absence, Inter Miami had fallen somewhat off the pace in recent weeks, so expectations were high for the Argentinian on his return after just under a month. It was not yet enough for a place in the starting eleven.
But after the Floridians fell behind shortly before half-time thanks to a penalty from Rafael Navarro (45′), coach Gerardo Martino brought on his star for the restart. That quickly paid off: Negri took a beautifully worked attack down the left and crossed into the middle, where Messi, who had run in, struck the ball accurately against the inside left post from 15 meters – from where it bounced into the goal (57′).
Messi had been on the pitch for less than twelve minutes. And it got even better: Leonardo Afonso even turned the game in Miami’s favor (60′), this time Messi was involved with the penultimate pass to the goal. In the end, however, the late equalizer by Bassett for Colorado (88′) was only enough for a point.