MIAMI: Lionel Messi scored in the 67th minute and Inter Miami pushed its unbeaten streak to eight straight Major League Soccer matches with a 1-1 tie against Charlotte FC on Saturday night. It was Messi’s 15th goal in 16 league matches this season.
The tie, combined with Columbus’ 2-2 draw with D.C. United on Saturday, left Inter Miami eight points clear of the Crew for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Inter Miami is also seven points up on the LA Galaxy for the No. 1 overall seed in the MLS playoffs.
Inter Miami play at Columbus on Wednesday, and a win would wrap up the No. 1 seed in the East. Inter Miami (19-4-8) has 65 points with three matches left; Columbus (16-5-9) has 57 points with four matches remaining.
If Inter Miami wins out, it will finish with 74 points — one more than the MLS record of 73 set by New England in 2021.
D.C. United helped Inter Miami a bit on Saturday. Columbus led 2-1 late in the second half but surrendered the tying goal in the 81st minute; otherwise, the Crew could have been two points closer to Inter Miami in the standings and made Wednesday’s match far more interesting.
Messi’s goal was his typical brilliance. He took a pass near the top of the penalty box, dribbling once and threading his natural left-footed shot between four defenders and into the net to tie the match.
It came 10 minutes after Charlotte (11-11-9, 42 points, seventh in the East) struck first, with Karol Swiderski deflecting a shot into the net.
But Messi answered, and Inter Miami had to settle for its third consecutive draw. The team is 5-0-3 in its last eight league matches and 9-1-3 in MLS play since June 1. Agencies
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