Lionel Messi scored off the bench as Inter Miami opened their drive for the Major League Soccer playoffs with a 2-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.
After a week in which Miami won the Leagues Cup and advanced to the US Open Cup final, coach Gerard “Tata” Martino left Messi on the bench, but he came in at the hour mark.
After joining with former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets, the Argentine World Cup winner had limited participation but made his impact on his regular season debut with an 89th-minute goal.
Jordi Alba acrobatically dragged the ball into the area for Messi, who twisted and turned before slipping a magnificent outside-of-foot pass to Benjamin Cremaschi, whose low first-time cross was touched in by the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Messi has now scored 11 goals in nine appearances in all competitions since joining Inter Miami.
“He’s unbelievable, every day it’s something new, on and off the field,” said Miami’s 19-year-old defender Noah Allen.
“He’s an amazing person to play with and I am so blessed to play with him.”
Martino had suggested that several of his players needed a vacation following a tough run of eight games in a month, and he adhered to his word with his lineup selection, much to the chagrin of the Red Bull Arena audience.
‘We want Messi’ chanting could be heard at several points during the game, which was also televised on a huge screen in Times Square.
an improvised Miami took the lead in the 37th minute when Noah Allen crossed from the left and Paraguayan Diego Gomez was given time to turn and slide home a left-footed shot.
Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender had to make several stops to maintain his team in the lead, but as Red Bull pressure mounted, Martino chose to put on his star player, and the momentum of the game inevitably turned.
With 11 games remaining, Miami moves off the bottom of the Eastern Conference and closes the distance to the last playoff spot to 11 points.
Despite the crowd’s aspirations, Martino justified his decision to start his 36-year-old compatriot on the bench.
“I understand the desire of the people who want him to play, this will happen everywhere we go,” he said.
“But as the coach, I cannot be guided by those fans’ desires. My job is to make sure Leo takes care of himself,” he said.