Lionel Messi dazzles Yankee Stadium crowd with goal in Inter Miami’s win over NYCFC

It was the Lionel Messi show on one of America’s grandest sports stages, and many of the 45,845 in attendance were there on Sunday for the show. 

From the moment Inter Miami’s bus arrived at Yankee Stadium to face New York City FC, all eyes were on the World Cup winner from start to finish. In the end, Inter Miami defeated NYCFC 3-2, and Messi’s performance — which included a second-half goal — lived up to the hype for those clad in Miami pink and Argentinian National team jerseys. 

“The experience so far has been amazing,” 20-year-old Fordham student Gabriel Santiago told The Post on the Yankee Stadium concourse. “He’s put on a laser show so far, so it’s definitely been worth it.” 

“He’s accomplished everything. He’s, in my opinion, undisputedly the greatest player to play the sport,” Diego Fernandez, 21, who attended Sunday’s match with Santiago, said. “And every time he gets a ball you know you have a chance at experiencing something amazing.” 

For New York City FC, even some of its players had to take a moment to appreciate being on the same pitch as Messi. Agustín Ojeda, an Argentinian himself, said that he grew up “idolizing” the famed footballer.

“It was just a great opportunity to be present on the field with him, and I enjoyed the experience,” he said through a translator.

The buzz had been palpable during the afternoon showdown in The Bronx as fans erupted every time Messi moved on the pitch at Yankee Stadium. In the right corner of the ballpark, fans screamed and chanted, trying to get Messi’s attention during warmups, and when he looked their way, they were overcome with delirium. 

The crowd roared as if Messi was lining up for a penalty in the World Cup when he took practice shots at the net during warmups. 

And when he touched the ball during the 90-minute affair, and whenever there was a hint of a scoring chance, Yankee Stadium sounded as if Aaron Judge had just belted a bottom-of-the-ninth home run.

Chants of “MESSI” echoed at various times during the match, including in the final 10 minutes with Miami ahead 3-2. 

Messi, who had just scored his 900th career goal for club and country on Wednesday, showed why he’s one of soccer’s greatest players during the match. He forced NYCFC Matt Freese to make a diving save in the eighth minute and nearly scored in the 30th minute after ringing a shot off the post from 25 yards out. 

Moments later, he got the ball back and danced through the NYCFC backline before the home side was able to knock the ball out, erasing the danger. In the 42nd minute, he hit the crossbar on a shot just outside the penalty area. 

The legendary striker finally gave the crowd what they’d been hoping to see when he took a free kick, and it appeared to hit off a New York City player and bounced out of reach of Freese in the 61st minute. The goal erased the 2-1 lead NYCFC had and kick-started the Inter Miami comeback. 

“The woodwork saved us a couple of times on him in the first half,” NYCFC defender Kevin O’Toole said about defending Messi, who generated nine shots during the match. “I think he’s a player that’s always going to create chances for himself. I mean nine shots is a lot, so the woodwork came up clutch and Aiden [O’Neill’s] leg as well. I don’t know, [Messi] was decent today.”

New York City FC has not won a match against Inter Miami in the Messi era and their last win against the club came back on March 11, 2023, at Yankee Stadium. 

Sunday also marked NYCFC’s first loss of the season after picking up 10 points in the standings through their first four games. 

It was the first time that NYCFC had seen Miami since the Eastern Conference Finals, when they fell 5-1 in South Florida.

Gonzalo Luján had given Inter Miami the lead three minutes into the match, cleaning up a loose ball in the box. Nicolás Fernández Mercau scored in the 17th minute to tie the game at one and Agustín Ojeda continued his strong run this season to put NYCFC ahead in the 59th minute. 

Michael dos Santos scored the go-ahead goal for Inter Miami in the 74th minute.