The Argentine star forward scored the 901st goal of his career as Inter Miami defeated New York City FC at Yankee Stadium.
Published on 23 March 2026
Mikel dos Santos Silva’s goal in the 74th minute gave Inter Miami a 3-2 win over host New York City FC on Sunday.
Dos Santos deflected a beautiful ball from fellow defender Noah Allen past NYCFC keeper Matt Freeze to give Inter Miami (3-1-1, 10 points) their first Major League Soccer (MLS) win since March 7.
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Lionel Messi scored his 901st career goal, and Gonzalo Luján scored his first career MLS goal for Inter Miami, which returned from being eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions Cup after a draw against Nashville on Wednesday, with the team advancing on away goals tiebreaker.
NYCFC (3-1-1, 10 points) suffered its first loss of the season and had a three-game winning streak snapped despite goals from Nicolas Fernandez Mercau and Agustin Ojeda.
Maxi Moralez provided a brilliant assist for Ojeda in the 59th minute to briefly put NYCFC ahead 2–1.
Moralez sent a great ball through traffic in the middle of the field to Ojeda, who was unopposed, and fired the ball past Inter Miami goalkeeper Danae St. Clair.
But two minutes later, Inter Miami earned a free kick, and Messi delivered. His shot bounced off NYCFC’s Hannes Wolf and past Freese (five saves) to tie the game at 2.
Messi almost had a multi-goal match as he came close on several occasions. He hit the post in the 31st minute and the crossbar in the 42nd minute. He also had a late chance to preserve Miami’s lead but missed.
German Bertram looked to extend Miami’s lead in the 79th minute, but his first goal with his new club was ruled out for offside.
After Luján scored in the fourth minute, NYCFC tied the match with a spectacular free kick goal from Fernández Mercau, who lifted a high shot that bounced just off the crossbar and stopped St. Clair in the 17th minute.
NYCFC used Moralez as a decoy, approaching him as if he would take a shot, and then Fernández Mercau ran in and booted him.
St. Clair (three saves) made big saves late in stoppage time to preserve the win for Inter Miami.
