By Dorcas Francis Koji
Lionel Messi marked his emotional return to the scoresheet following the death of his father, Jorge Messi, but his goal was not enough to lift Inter Miami to victory as they were held to a 2-2 draw by the Philadelphia Union in Major League Soccer on Wednesday.
The 39-year-old Argentine forward put Miami ahead in the 26th minute with a trademark left-footed curling effort that found the far corner of the net.
Messi celebrated quietly with his teammates before pointing toward the sky, a gesture he has regularly used to honour loved ones.
Five minutes before his goal, Messi had played a key role in Miami’s equaliser. He released Luis Suarez down the left, with the Uruguayan forward heading the ball across the box for young American Daniel Pinter to finish from close range.
Philadelphia had taken the lead in the 11th minute through Indiana Vassilev before Messi turned the game around for the visitors. However, Neil Pierre restored parity in the 58th minute to earn the Union a share of the points.
“We came to win but we couldn’t,” Miami coach Guillermo Hoyos said after the match.
“We’re not happy with the draw because we don’t like it, but now we need to try to rest and think about the next game, which is in less than 72 hours,” he added, referring to Saturday’s meeting with Toronto FC.
The goal moved Messi to 13 league goals for the season, leaving him second on the MLS scoring chart, three behind leaders Peter Musa.
Messi had gone without a goal in his previous two appearances since returning from Argentina following the death of his father on August 8.
During that period, Inter Miami suffered a 3-2 defeat to Mexican club Leon in the Leagues Cup, which ended their campaign in the competition, before being thrashed 4-1 by Nashville in MLS. Messi missed a penalty in the latter defeat.
The latest draw extended Miami’s winless run to four matches and left them seven points behind Eastern Conference leaders Nashville, who defeated the New York Red Bulls 1-0.
Elsewhere in MLS, Robert Lewandowski converted a decisive penalty as Chicago Fire defeated Antoine Griezmann’s Orlando City 2-1 to record their sixth consecutive victory.
The match was delayed by more than an hour because of severe weather after Puso Dithejane gave Orlando the lead in the fourth minute.
David Brekalo brought Chicago level with a 52nd-minute header before Lewandowski won a penalty after being brought down inside the box by Swedish defender Robin Jansson.
The Polish striker, who joined Chicago in June, calmly converted the spot-kick, sending goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau the wrong way.
Orlando had an opportunity to equalise in the 77th minute when Griezmann broke forward on a counterattack, but his effort struck the post.
The victory lifted Chicago to third place in the Eastern Conference, four points behind Inter Miami with a game in hand.
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