NYCFC draws with Inter Miami, Lionel Messi after late goal

James Sands recorded his first career goals for New York City FC, and in MLS, in stoppage time to help NYCFC salvage a point Saturday afternoon with a 1-1 draw against Lionel Messi-led Inter Miami.

Sands’ goal came in the 95th minute with his club down by one in an important game late in the season after suffering an embarrassing loss to the Philadelphia Union earlier in the week.

NYCFC are still battling for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference.

The NYCFC midfielder leaped into the air to head a Santiago Rodríguez corner kick past Drake Callender for the equalizer.

The dramatic finish sent the Yankee Stadium crowd home getting their money’s worth with a larger-than-usual crowd on hand in large part to see Messi, who was playing in the Big Apple for the first time since he made the jump to MLS. 

“I’m happy with the goal,” Sands said. “But I’m more happy with what it means to the team. It’s tough when you play Miami, so to get something from the game where we fought hard, I think hopefully it can push us for the last couple of games.”

Sands added that it was nice “to get [the first goal] off my back.”

NYCFC saw their second-largest crowd in club history on Saturday with 44,738 fans in attendance in The Bronx — again, due in large part to the presence of Messi.

The upper deck of Yankee Stadium, usually closed for NYCFC matches, was opened in anticipation of the larger-than-usual fan presence.

Messi had used his golden leg earlier in the match to help set up Inter Miami, delighting the largely pro-Messi crowd.

Messi stormed up the pitch and threaded a perfect pass inside the box to Jordi Alba, who was able to get a quick touch over to Leo Campana for the goal in the 75th minute of what had been a scoreless game.

Nevertheless, NYCFC did a valiant job of marking the soccer GOAT, minimizing his impact on the match for the better part of the afternoon.

Kevin O’Toole, who started at left back and was tasked with keeping tabs on Messi, called his effort against the superstar “up there” in terms of career achievements.

“To be able to hold him to no points on the board, that’s a pretty good day at the office,” O’Toole said. “It definitely took a team effort. [Rodríguez] was huge in tracking back and stripping him of the ball a few times. Whenever he was in my area I just tried to push him off that left foot.”

Messi did not speak to reporters after the match, and Miami coach Gerardo Martino said that he only wanted to talk about the collective effort of the group and not about any one individual, including Messi.

While all eyes had been on Messi from start to finish, NYCFC had appeared to be the better team for large portions of the game.

The match was largely peaceful until the latter part of the second half, when tempers started to flare between the two clubs. In a roughly eight-minute span between the 63rd minute and 71st a combined five yellow cards — four for Inter Miami and one for NYCFC — were handed out and Inter Miami assistant coach Gerardo Andres Martino was given a red card.

There had been questions as to whether Messi would be in Inter Miami’s starting lineup on Saturday afternoon, but he was included.

Pink Inter Miami jerseys — many adorned with Messi’s name on the back — were easily spotted among the fans in attendance.

Messi was greeted by a loud ovation when he walked onto the pitch for warm-ups and when his name was mentioned as part of the starting lineup.

And a swell of excitement grew every time Messi touched the ball.

NYCFC supporters tried to counter the Messi mania with a banner they unfurled before kickoff that depicted Inter Miami fans as plastic and poked fun at the surge in the club’s popularity due to the Argentinan soccer star.