Lionel Messi scored twice, Telasco Segovia netted the go-ahead goal in the 85th minute and added two assists, and Inter Miami rallied for a 4-2 victory over Orlando City on Sunday night.
Trailing 2-0 at halftime, the Herons responded with four unanswered goals in the second half. Mateo Silvetti sparked the comeback with a goal and an assist as Miami erased the deficit. The victory moved Inter Miami to 1-1-0 for three points, a strong response after a 3-0 season-opening loss to Los Angeles FC.
Messi began the rally with a goal in the 57th minute and added another in the 90th, giving him eight goals in five career meetings with Orlando City in all competitions.
Marco Pasalic and Martin Ojeda scored for Orlando City, which fell to 0-2-0 after losing control in the second half.
Orlando failed to clear its defensive third on the decisive sequence. Miami’s Germán Berterame gained possession to start the play. Segovia eventually received the ball and fired a right-footed shot into the net in the 85th minute.
Three minutes later, Orlando City’s Colin Guske was shown a second yellow card for pulling down Messi. The automatic red card reduced the Lions to 10 men for the remainder of the match, which included 10 minutes of stoppage time.
Messi converted a free kick in the 90th minute, curling a left-footed shot past the wall and inside the left post to extend Miami’s lead to two goals.
Dayne St. Clair made three saves for Miami, which outshot Orlando City 16-12 and put eight shots on target to the Lions’ five. Maxime Crepeau finished with four saves for Orlando.
Orlando City won both regular-season meetings last season, 4-0 and 3-1.
Silvetti cut the deficit in the 49th minute, striking a right-footed shot from outside the box into the left corner. Messi equalized eight minutes later, placing a left-footed shot inside the right post.
Ojeda nearly restored Orlando City’s lead in the 70th minute, but St. Clair made a kick save on his close-range attempt.
Orlando opened the scoring in the 18th minute when Ivan Angulo set up Pasalic, whose left-footed shot deflected off St. Clair and into the net. Six minutes later, the Lions doubled the lead as Ojeda completed a give-and-go with Griffin Dorsey and sent a right-footed shot into the right corner.
Crepeau made three saves in the first half, including one on Messi in the 28th minute. Messi also sent a late first-half free kick wide left.