Messi golazo, but Inter Miami ties Nashville 2-2 after late equalizer by Surridge

The top two teams in the Eastern Conference clashed Saturday night at Nu Stadium as second place Inter Miami, stuck in a rut, tried to gain ground on leader Nashville SC.

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Lionel Messi and his teammates were winless in three tries against Nashville and determined to dominate at home, with the familiar sound of La Familia’s drumbeats and never-ending songs.

“It means everything, it’s a tough game, No. 1 vs. No. 2,” Inter Miami midfielder Yannick Bright told Apple TV as the players took the field. “We failed to take advantage of the last games, so we have to put up a performance [Saturday night].”

A go-ahead golazo by Messi in the second half was not enough, as Sam Surridge completed a brace with a stunner of a goal in stoppage time. Inter Miami trudged off the field and its fans headed to the parking lots gutted after a disappointing 2-2 tie.

Instead of closing the gap with Nashville, Inter Miami’s frustrations continue with just one win in the past nine games and four winless contests against a Nashville team that has been impossible for Miami to conquer. The sparkling new Nu Stadium, built to be a fortress for Messi’s team, has not been. Miami has won four of its 12 games in the new building.

Messi, who hit the post twice on Saturday, was visibly frustrated and dejected after the final whistle.

Things started out rocky, as Miami gave up a Surridge goal in the fourth minute to fall behind while many fans were still getting to their seats. Surridge raced past Miami’s back line, which was slow to respond to the counterattack. He received the assist from Andy Najar and knocked in a low angled shot for his 14^th goal of the season.

Miami evened the score at the 19-minute mark and fans were able to relax a bit when a corner kick from Messi deflected into the net by Nashville’s Reed Baker-Whiting for an own goal.

The game remained tied 1-1 at halftime.

Messi had a chance to give Miami the lead five minutes into the second half after Yannick Bright broke up a Nashville run and the ball made its way from Casemiro to Messi, who launched a left-footed shot that clanked off the crossbar. German Berterame then took a shot off the rebound from the center of the box and is sailed high.

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Messi shook his head in disbelief. Two excellent Miami scoring chances, but nothing to show for it.

The Argentine legend, who was held scoreless the previous two games, had another opportunity in the 59th minute, but that one flew over the crossbar. Finally, on his third attempt of the second half, Messi delivered to go-ahead goal on a left-footed golazo from 20 yards out to the bottom left corner as Nashville goalkeeper Brian Schwake was rendered helpless.

Messi got a huge hug from Rodrigo De Paul, who got the assist, and one by one the rest of the Miami players joined the group celebration as their 39-year-old captain took over the MLS Golden Boot race with his 19th goal of the season.

Interim Inter Miami coach Guillermo Hoyos, still in charge of the team until new coach Kily Gonzalez gets his work permit, went with the same starting lineup he used the past two games.

Dayne St. Clair started in goal. The back line was Ian Fray, Casemiro, Maxi Falcon and Caicedo. Telasco Segovia, Yannick Bright, Rodrigo De Paul played in the midfield with Messi, German Berterame and Luis Suarez leading the attack.

The difference from the past two games, which ended in ties against Atlanta and Chicago, was that the bench had more depth. Gonzalo Lujan, Sergio Reguilon, and Micael returned from injuries and newly signed Matias Galarza was on the roster for the first time after arriving on loan from River Plate.

Nashville has been the team to beat this season, sitting nine points ahead of Miami and on pace to break Miami’s single-season points record (74) with 10 games remaining in the regular season.

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This story was originally published September 12, 2026 at 8:43 PM.