Messi scores late equaliser to salvage 1-1 draw for Miami

LOS ANGELES: Lionel Messi scored in the second minute of injury time after full time off a pass from Jordi Alba, and Miami salvaged a 1-1 draw with LA Galaxy on Sunday night.

Dejan Joveljic scored in the 75th minute for the Galaxy, who were close to delivering a surprising early-season blow to Messi and his new MLS powerhouse — but with LA down to 10 men, the Argentine superstar worked another bit of magic.

After executing a give-and-go pass sequence with Alba, his longtime Barcelona teammate, Messi slid forward and chipped a shot into the roof of the net above Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy.

The goal delivered another thrill to the raucous crowd cheering on both teams at Miami’s first away game of the season. Thousands of fans wore Messi shirts among the 27,642 in attendance — a record for a Galaxy regular-season match at their suburban stadium.

“It was their home opener, and the atmosphere was pretty electric,” said Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender, whose eight saves included a stop on an early penalty shot from Riqui Puig. Inter Miami is a major betting favourite to dominate MLS this season after uniting Messi and Luis Suarez alongside fellow ex-Barca stars Sergio Busquets and Alba — but everybody on Messi’s side knows it won’t be easy.

The Galaxy are famous for the type of high-profile veteran signings amassed by Miami in the past year, but the LA club is rebuilding without big names this time.