Messi Powers Miami Comeback Victory
Lionel Messi scored twice to lead Inter Miami's thrilling comeback win against Orlando City in the Florida Derby on Sunday. Miami had fallen behind early but Messi's second-half goals overturned the deficit, maintaining their strong start to the MLS season. The victory keeps Inter Miami near the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
The comeback victory was Inter Miami's first-ever win at Orlando City's Inter&Co Stadium. Before this match, Orlando City had dominated the rivalry at home, winning both regular-season meetings last year. The 4-2 result marked a significant turnaround for Inter Miami, who had been trailing 2-0 at halftime. The game saw a flurry of second-half goals, with Mateo Silvetti starting the comeback with his first career goal in the 49th minute. Telasco Segovia also had a standout performance, contributing a goal and two assists. The win was a crucial response from Inter Miami after they suffered a 3-0 loss to Los Angeles FC in their season opener. With his two goals in the match, Lionel Messi now has 52 goals in 55 career MLS regular-season appearances. This performance also brought his total career goals to 898. The victory moved Inter Miami to 7th place in the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 1-1-0. The match was a heated affair, with Orlando City's Colin Guske receiving a red card in the 88th minute after a second yellow for a foul on Messi. This reduced Orlando to 10 men for the remainder of the game, which included 10 minutes of stoppage time. Inter Miami will look to build on this momentum when they travel to face D.C. United on Saturday, March 7th.
