Messi and Surridge trade goals as Nashville hold Miami in 2-2 draw
Sam Surridge scored deep into stoppage time to earn Nashville SC a 2-2 draw at Inter Miami on Saturday in a meeting of the Eastern Conference's top two.
Nashville arrived as leaders. Miami sat second. The game lived up to it, with the lead changing hands twice and the final kick of the match hitting the woodwork.
Surridge gave Nashville the lead inside four minutes. That early strike set the tone for a night built around the strikers.
Lionel Messi turned it around for Miami in the 62nd minute. Rodrigo De Paul slipped him a pass from just beyond the top of the box, and Messi beat goalkeeper Brian Schwake with a left-footed finish to make it 2-1 The Guardian.
It was Messi's league-high 19th goal of the season. It was also his 99th across all competitions for Inter Miami.
Nashville would not go away. In the first minute of second-half stoppage time — the extra minutes added for delays — substitute Shak Mohammed saw his shot saved by Dayne St Clair, and Surridge pounced on the rebound for 2-2.
The brace took Surridge to 15 goals for the season. It was his fifth multi-goal performance in MLS in 2026, according to Nashville's own match report Nashville SC.
There was still time for one more twist. In the fourth minute of stoppage time, De Paul struck the left post with what proved the last kick of the game.
What makes this stand out is what it keeps intact. Nashville held a nine-point lead over Miami after the draw MLSsoccer.com and stretched its unbeaten run against Miami to four matches in all competitions. Miami, now on 45 points from a 12W-4L-9D record, settled for a third straight draw and have one win in their last eight league games.
Elsewhere on Saturday night, Sporting Kansas City beat Los Angeles FC 3-1 to snap a three-game losing run. Andre Luiz scored his first MLS goal, with Taylor Calheira and Jacob Bartlett also on target. Goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland made six saves for his first win since 22 July.
Denis Bouanga scored the lone goal for LAFC. The defeat ended their four-game unbeaten stretch, despite five saves from Hugo Lloris.
Orlando City kept rolling with a 3-0 win over Toronto FC. Antoine Griezmann gave Orlando a 1-0 lead in first-half stoppage time from Zakaria Taifi's feed, scoring for a fifth straight game.
Harvey Sarajian made it 2-0 in the 82nd minute with his first MLS goal. Ivan Angulo added the third in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time. Orlando have now won three in a row and are unbeaten in five, while Toronto lost for the first time since 25 July to end a seven-game unbeaten run.
FC Cincinnati and Charlotte FC shared six goals in a 3-3 draw. Kevin Denkey scored twice in the second half to twice bring Cincinnati level, with Pavel Bucha also scoring.
