Messi, Inter Miami settle for 2-2 tie at home vs. Atlanta after weather delay

Inter Miami admin September 6, 2026 0 Comments

Messi, Inter Miami settle for 2-2 tie at home vs. Atlanta after weather delay

Thunderstorms delayed the start of Inter Miami’s home game against Atlanta United by 90 minutes on Saturday night, a game with added significance because it marked the return of Atlanta coach Tata Martino, who was facing his former team for the first time.

Once the rain and lightning cleared, the Nu Stadium crowd got 100 minutes of drama in a super-charged game that ended in a 2-2 tie after a controversial penalty kick.

Inter Miami was coming off a 7-1 rout of CF Montreal in which Lionel Messi had a historic four-goal performance. This game proved much more difficult.

Messi was held scoreless and got into a heated argument with Atlanta defender Junior Alonso following the final whistle before players from both teams stepped in to separate them. Alonso had celebrated in Messi’s face after denying him the game-winning goal with a goal-line clearance in the final seconds of the match, and Messi did not take kindly to the celebration.

For the second week in a row, Brazilian star Casemiro got Miami on the scoreboard with a header off a Messi corner kick. This one came in the 32nd minute, as Casemiro rose up and found the far post.

He ran to the corner flag and lifted Messi into his arms, something nobody could have imagined when Casemiro was winning five Champions League titles with Real Madrid while Messi was winning titles with Barcelona.

But the celebration was shortlived. Three minutes after Casemiro scored, he made a poor clearance in front of the Miami goal, which led to the Atlanta equalizer by Miguel Almiron. Miami had lost the ball on the counterattack, and Casemiro cleared it in the direction of Miami goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, who made the save, but Almiron scored off the rebound to make it 1-1.

Inter Miami reclaimed the lead just before halftime as Luis Suarez made a sublime finish off an assist by Telasco Segovia.

Atlanta had a golden opportunity to tie the game at the 73-minute mark when Almiron was awarded a penalty kick after VAR showed that Casemiro made contact with Almiron’s left leg in the box. The Nu Stadium crowd watched nervously as Almiron took a shot, and then St. Clair made his biggest save since joining the team this season, preserving Miami’s lead.

The Canadian goalkeeper, who had briefly lost his starting job to Rocco Rios Novo, roared after making the save, as his teammates celebrated with him.

But once again, the visitors quickly knotted the score.

Inter Miami’s Fricio Caicedo, the 18-year-old Ecuadorean making his first start at left back, was called for a foul on Breel Embolo in the box in the 87th minute. Embolo, Atlanta’s new $18 million Swiss forward, was making his MLS debut and converted the penalty for his first goal.

Caicedo and Inter Miami coach Guillermo Hoyos disagreed with the referee’s decision to award Atlanta the penalty kick.

“We did not see that as a penalty,” Hoyos. “But human error is part of life.”

Inter Miami came within inches of re-taking the lead with a flurry of shots late in stoppage time, but Rodrigo De Paul’s shot was blocked, Messi had a shot saved and then, when the Argentine captain took an attempt off the rebound, it was blocked by Alonso and bounced wide right. Back on the doorstep of the goal one last time at the 100-minute mark, German Berterame’s header from the center of box off a cross from Yannick Bright went over the crossbar.

“Our players fought very hard to win the game, and we are never satisfied with a tie,” Hoyos said. “Our goal is always to win. The game was very even. The second half they were much more active and came out strong. We also came out strong and felt we had the game in control, and we did not agree with that penalty. When they award a penalty that is not a penalty, it not only allows the other team to tie or win, but also disrupts your team.”

Martino’s summary of the match was that Inter Miami was the better team in the first half, and his team, minus the final five minutes, was superior in the second half. As for the second penalty, he said he had not seen a replay.

Martino was asked how it felt to be back in Miami facing his former team. He said: “Even though I had never been in this stadium, it felt like home because it was not that long ago that we were with this club and we shared beautiful moments. It was a little strange because we were in a different home [stadium], and a very beautiful stadium it is, by the way.”

He added that he wanted to give “eternal thanks” to Messi for all he did for Argentina before he retired from the national team last week. “Now it’s time to stop demanding of him, to leave him alone and let him enjoy his life, however he wants, continuing here in Miami, with his family.”

Martino and Messi shared a warm embrace during warmups before the match. The coach said he had wanted to hug Messi for quite some time, not only after Argentina’s loss in the World Cup final, but more importantly, after the death of his father on Aug. 8.

“I wish I could have done it before, but this was my first chance,” Martino said. “He has been through a lot in the past two months, from a football standpoint and family issues. I wanted to give him that hug…As much as it hurt all of us Argentines to hear him say he is done playing for that shirt, we all knew this day was coming. We are all selfish and want him to keep playing for that shirt. But the time has come for him to be with his family and enjoy his life.”

Atlanta had won three games in a row in August, but lost 2-0 to Charlotte last weekend and slipped to 13th place in the East.

Inter Miami, which snapped a five-game winless streak last weekend, leads the league with 57 goals over 23 games (2.5 goals per game) and Messi leads the Golden Boot race with 18 goals.

The team is in second place in the Eastern Conference, 10 points behind leader Nashville SC and five points ahead of third-place Chicago with 12 games remaining in the regular season. Miami plays on the road at Chicago on Wednesday.

Miami’s starting lineup on Saturday had just one change from the Montreal match.

Caicedo started at left back, replacing Sergio Reguilon, who was out with a hamstring injury, and Noah Allen, who left Inter Miami this week on loan to the Chicago Fire.

Asked on Apple TV before the game whether he had revenge on his mind after Switzerland’s extra time loss to Argentina in the World Cup quarterfinals, Embolo smiled and said: “No, no revenge. It’s always a pleasure to play against the greatest. It’s two different games. I’m excited to play against him. We will do everything we can, we want to be the winner because we need three points.”

Former Inter Miami striker Fafa Picault, who grew up in South Florida, came off the bench for Atlanta in the 85th minute.

Martino, an Argentine from Messi’s hometown of Rosario, became Miami’s coach after Messi’s arrival in the summer of 2023 and led the team to the 2024 Supporters’ Shield with the best regular season record in MLS history.

He resigned unexpectedly on November 2024, citing “personal reasons” and was hired a year later by Atlanta, the club with whom he had won the MLS Cup in 2018.

Saturday’s game began with a stirring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by violinist Demola. After the game, the Inter Miami Special Olympics Unified Team was scheduled to play a match on the Nu Stadium field against the Atlanta United Special Olympics Unified Team.

This story was originally published September 5, 2026 at 8:24 PM.