Dejan Joveljic scored in the 75th minute for Los Angeles but Lionel Messi tallied the equalizer during stoppage time to give Inter Miami CF a 1–1 tie with the Galaxy on Sunday night, Feb. 25, at Carson, Calif.
Messi’s goal came in the second minute of second-half stoppage time and kept Inter Miami unbeaten (1–0–1, 4 points).
The Galaxy dropped their season opener despite having a 23–11 edge in shots. Los Angeles placed nine on target to Miami’s five.
Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender made eight saves. John McCarthy had four stops in his Galaxy debut.
The Galaxy made a downfield charge in the 75th minute and Riqui Puig fired a right-footed rocket from just outside the box.
Callender made the save but the rebound went right to unguarded Mark Delgado at the right side of the net.
Delgado then slid the ball over to the wide-open Joveljic, who tapped it into the net for the first goal of the night.
Los Angeles was trying to protect the lead and the task got tougher when Delgado came in and low hard on a tackle attempt and drew his second yellow card of the game. Two yellows equal a red and Delgado left the pitch and the Galaxy had just 10 men for the finish.
Messi sent a left-footer just wide left of the net in the 89th minute but he was just warming up.
In the second minute of stoppage time, Messi and Jordi Alba played back-and-forth short passes to one another and Messi sent a left-footer into the upper part of the net to tie the score.
The match was scoreless at halftime despite Los Angeles having a 12–2 edge in shots.
The Galaxy had a big opportunity early in the game after Miami’s Sergio Busquets pulled down Joseph Paintsil near the net.
Puig took the penalty kick in the 13th minute and sent a right-footer to the left of Callender, who dove and deflected the ball away with his left forearm.
Puig had another big chance in the 29th minute as he ripped a right-footed blast. Callender got his hand on the shot and it caromed off the crossbar.
In the 66th minute, Miki Yamane of the Galaxy hit the right post with a right-footed shot from the right side.
Three minutes later, Inter Miami’s Diego Gomez had a chance but his close-range right-footer was stopped by McCarthy.
