Eastern Conference leader Lionel Messi and Inter Miami drew 3-3 with St. Louis on Saturday, but a late VAR intervention prevented them from suffering a second straight home defeat.
Inter, who lost at home to Atlanta on Wednesday, looked to be suffering another painful defeat in the dying seconds of the game when a Luis Suarez own goal in the 68th minute gave St. Louis a 3-2 lead.
But with time running out, Miami substitute Julian Gresel’s long ball found Jordi Alba, who ran into space, and the Barcelona man scored to relieve the capacity crowd at Miami’s Chase Stadium.
The goal was initially ruled out for offside, but VAR official Daniel Radford intervened, with referee Allen Chapman visible on the monitor.
Replays showed Alba was slightly offside, so the goal stood and Miami earned a share of the point.
Miami still had a chance to grab a dramatic victory, but Marcelo Weigandt’s powerful shot late in the game was brilliantly saved by St. Louis goalkeeper Roman Bürki.
The result was tough for St. Louis, who led three times before Miami came back to pull away for a lucky draw.
Midfielder Chris Durkin gave St. Louis the lead after 15 minutes, turning his body on the edge of the area and firing a powerful shot past Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender into the top corner.
Then, in the 25th minute, Messi worked his magic by messing with the St. Louis defense and feeding Alba on the wing to put Miami back on level terms, after Alba crossed for Messi to score with a low shot to make it 1-1.
Former Miami player Indiana Vasilev capped off a sweeping comeback by putting St. Louis up 2-1 in the 41st minute, but Miami fought back before halftime.
A great run from Messi set Alba free and he fired a low cross across the face of goal for Suarez to tuck in from a tight angle.
But midway through the second half, Suarez was left hanging when Durkin’s flick off a set piece deflected off the Uruguayan’s body and into the Miami goal to give St. Louis a 3-2 lead.
That seemed like enough for the win, but late VAR drama saved Miami’s day, as they remained atop the Eastern Conference with 35 points from 18 games.
Cincinnati is two points behind Miami but has played two fewer games.
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