Lionel Messi was back in Major League Soccer on Saturday evening as the Argentinian scored Inter Miami’s only goal in a 1-1 draw against Charlotte FC. The World Cup winner, who had just returned to action after a two-month layoff due to injury following the Copa America, brought his team level in the 67th minute with a trademark goal. The former Barcelona man received the ball at the top of the penalty area, pretended to shoot to get to his defender, and struck a powerful and curling effort low to the far post.
Take a look:
That’s just Messi doing Messi things in MLS. With Inter Miami closing in on the top spot in the Eastern Conference and the heavy favorites to win the MLS Cup, this is a result that shows their ability to compete and truly dominate against a likely fellow playoff team, while not be at their best. Inter Miami finished the match with 19 shots and seven on frame, while Charlotte put just two of their nine shots on target. Ultimately, it will be a result that the Herons know should have ended with three points instead of one, but it will serve as a learning experience come play-off time.
After the match was over, Messi was shown a yellow card for his continued bickering with the head official over his decision not to make many mistakes. Teammate Jordi Alba had to come over to encourage Messi to stop in the hope of avoiding being shown a red card. Inter Miami returns to action on Wednesday against arguably the second-best team in the league, the Columbus Crew.