A star-studded crowd, including tennis ace Novak Djokovic and Hollywood A-listers, witnessed a thrilling 1-1 draw between Inter Miami and LA Galaxy on Sunday, with Lionel Messi saving the day for the home team with a last-gasp equalizer.
Despite Inter Miami boasting a formidable attack featuring the likes of Messi, Luis Suarez, and Jordi Alba, LA Galaxy took the lead in the 75th minute through Dejan Joveljic. The visitors appeared on course for victory until the 92nd minute, when Messi, in a moment of deja vu for Barcelona fans, linked up with Alba for a slick passing sequence before slotting the ball past Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy.
The equalizer sparked a roar in the stadium, with pockets of Argentina and Miami fans even bowing to the iconic Messi. Interestingly, David Beckham, a former Galaxy player and current Inter Miami co-owner, remained stoic during the celebration against his former team.
“They dominated the first half,” admitted Miami coach Gerardo Martino after the match. “But we had the personality to continue searching, and we reached the tie, well, you could say with the genius of Leo.”
Messi’s heroics came just hours before he reached a staggering 500 million followers on Instagram, solidifying his position as the second most followed person on the platform behind Cristiano Ronaldo.
