Messi held scoreless as Inter Miami settles for 1-1 tie on road vs. Toronto FC
Inter Miami had already booked a spot in the playoffs and was facing a Toronto FC team that had already been eliminated Saturday afternoon, but coach Javier Mascherano took no chances and stuck with most of his regular starters, including Lionel Messi.
Mascherano warned that the game would be a tough outing and he was correct. Despite dominating possession and shots on goal, Inter Miami settled for a 1-1 tie and dropped to fourth place in the Eastern Conference with four games remaining and one game in hand.
Miami played four games over the past 11 days, with another game coming up Tuesday night against the Chicago Fire, and Mascherano said “we didn’t expect to be brilliant” because fatigue had set in. That said, he felt his team should have won.
“I thought we deserved to win, we had more clear chances, and other than a 10 to 15 minute stretch in the second half, we were the better team,” Mascherano said. “We had the game under control, we were attacking, but their goalkeeper [Sean Johnson] was the Man of the Match...He was brilliant at certain moments. It’s hard because we came to win and climb the standings, and we head home with one point instead of three.”
A sellout crowd of 30,000 showed up at BMO Field and the spirited contingent of fans in Messi shirts roared every time the Argentine icon touched the ball.
Messi leads the Golden Boot race with 24 goals over 23 games and almost added another in the 29th minute against Toronto, but was denied by Johnson, who made a spectacular save, parrying the ball over the post.
Johnson thwarted Messi again just before halftime with a heads-up save from close range. Inter Miami took a 1-0 lead right before the first half whistle when Tadeo Allende leaped and drilled in a header off a perfect cross from Jordi Alba.
Toronto tied it up in the 60th minute when Richie Laryea sprinted and made a diving cutback pass from the endline to an unmarked Djordje Mihailovic, who knocked it past Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari.
Messi had a chance to regain the lead for Inter Miami at the 82-minute mark with a free kick after Yannick Bright drew a foul just outside the box, but once again, Johnson made a big save to keep Messi scoreless.
Determined to build off its 4-0 midweek rout of New York City FC and continue climbing the standings, the men in pink came into the game highly motivated.
The team had extra incentive following Sergio Busquets’ announcement on Thursday that he will retire at the end of this season. Busquets’ teammates would like to send the legend off with the club’s first MLS Cup trophy.
“I knew this was the last year of my contract, and me and my family thought that this was best,” Busquets said after the game Saturday night. “My soccer story will end here. Hopefully, we can end the season with a title I am still missing and one which we have been working hard for all year.”
The final stretch of the season will not be easy. With a jam-packed schedule due to Miami’s participation in the Leagues Cup, Club World Cup and Champions Cup, Mascherano conceded that there were some tired legs on the field.
“We knew it would be an uncomfortable game because we just played in New York 72 hours ago, and had to travel here,” he said. “When you play four games in 11 days, you know it’s not going to be easy against a team that had not lost in five straight games and had improved of late. But even so, we had the game under control and unfortunately we go home with one point when we did enough to earn three.”
With just four games remaining in the regular season, Miami is in position to reach first place in the East and win the Supporters’ Shield for the second year in a row.
In addition to Messi, the Miami starters included Oscar Ustari, Ian Fray, Maxi Falcon, Noah Allen, Jordi Alba, Tadeo Allende, Rodrigo De Paul, Sergio Busquets, Baltasar Rodriguez, and Luis Suarez.
The Reds (5-13-13, 27 points) had earned points in six straight matches with six consecutive ties and had not lost a match since late-July. They made it seven ties in a row on Saturday.
Telasco Segovia returned to the active roster after serving a suspension for yellow card accumulation. He began the game on the bench, along with Yannick Bright, Fafa Picault, Tomas Aviles, Gonzalo Lujan, Marcelo Weigandt, Ryan Sailor, Rocco Rios Novo and Santi Morales.
Segovia replaced Rodriguez in the 60th minute. Bright and Weigandt went in for Busquets and Fray in the 71st minute. Mascherano said the substitutions were made to bring in fresh legs, that nobody was injured.
“Every other team plays the best games of their lives against us, they want to have a good showing against Inter Miami,” Segovia said on Friday. “We will come out strong. We want to earn points. We know that we want to finish in first place in the regular season.”
Inter Miami returns home to face the Chicago Fire at Chase Stadium on Tuesday night.
This story was originally published September 27, 2025 at 5:48 PM.