Messi leads Inter Miami to 3-2 road win over Rapids in debut of new coach Hoyos
Inter Miami entered a new era with a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rapids on Saturday as interim coach Guillermo Hoyos made his debut at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, four days after the unexpected resignation of Javier Mascherano.
A crowd of 75,824, second-largest in MLS history, was on hand as Lionel Messi once again delivered for his team, which was desperate for a win after a pair of deflating ties in their first two home games at the newly constructed Nu Stadium in Miami.
Late in Saturday’s game, with Inter Miami knotted 2-2 for the third game in a row, Messi added another magical moment to his career. He scored the eventual game-winning goal at the 79-minute mark with a sublime left-footed shot through traffic from the right side of the box to the top left corner. It was his seventh goal of the season.
With the win, Miami extended its unbeaten streak to seven games and moved up to second place in the Eastern Conference standings, one point behind first-place Nashville SC.
Hoyos, one of Messi’s closest confidants since the superstar was a teenager, said he got emotional when Messi scored the game-winning goal on Saturday. “We had the magic that God gave our No. 10 and I know that our group as a whole worked hard to get the win.”
He later added: “The best coach in the world is on the field [Messi]. We are just guides.”
Yannick Bright, who played one of his best games of the season and is one of the team’s most respected players, was sent off with a red card during a stoppage in play in the 87th minute “for offensive, insulting abusive language heard by the referee,” including a racial slur, according to the Professional Referee Organization that oversees MLS officiating. The phrase he allegedly used is a derogatory term used to describe someone deemed weak and cowardly.
Hoyos, asked if he knew why Bright was sent off and what he said, replied: “I honestly didn’t notice and was surprised by the ejection. I was not aware of any situation. I don’t know anything about it.”
Miami hung on to the lead with a man down through the rest of regulation and seven minutes of added time.
The Rapids dominated possession in the first half, but Messi scored on a penalty kick to give Miami the lead in the 18th minute after Bright got fouled in the box after stealing the ball in the six-yard box.
German Berterame doubled the lead to 2-0 with a header in the 49th minute off a Mateo Silvetti cross, his second goal in as many games after going scoreless through his first six matches. He pulled his jersey over his head to reveal a message that read: “May Noni Rest in Peace.”
An emotional Berterame got swarmed by his teammates and they carried momentum into the locker room at halftime.
Colorado got back into the game and ignited the crowd with a pair of goals over a four-minute span, as Rafael Navarro and Darren Yapi slipped behind Miami’s defense, which looked disorganized and vulnerable in those moments. Navarro scored in the 58th minute and Yapi, who came off the bench, in the 62nd.
“It’s one of the most uncertain leads, 2-0, they score a goal on you and get motivated,” Hoyos said. “There was a significant reaction from our team after the 2-2, and we had to change our approach. You rub the lamp and out comes that goal that only he [Messi] could score.”
The most burning question going into the game was whether Hoyos, the team’s sporting director before taking the coaching reins, would tinker with the starting lineup.
He made one change at left back from the previous game, starting Argentine newcomer Facundo Mura over Ian Fray. Mura had started two games this season, Fray started five.
The rest of the starters were: goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, defender Gonzalo Lujan, defender Micael, defender Maxi Falcon, midfielder Rodrigo De Paul, midfielder Bright, midfielder Telasco Segovia, winger Silvetti, forward Berterame, and Messi, the captain.
On the bench were Luis Suarez, Fray, Tadeo Allende, Noah Allen, Rocco Rios-Novo, David Ruiz, Daniel, Pinter, Cesar Abadia-Reda, and Alex Shaw.
Hoyos said he planned for Suarez to get some minutes, but once the team went down a man those plans changed.
Silvetti left the game with an apparent hamstring strain. Hoyos said the medical staff is evaluating him to determine the severity of the injury.
Hoyos’ coaching staff, which was introduced on Saturday, includes assistant coach Rafael Perez, goalkeeper coach Diter Alquiza, performance coach Sebastien Fabres, Analyst Javier Zerpa, physician Luis Rodriguez, trainer Juan Mesa, trainer Stevens Sanchez, equipment manager Edis Miftari.
“It will be interesting to see if he changes anything, personnel-wise or tactically with the formation,” Apple TV analyst Sacha Kljestan said in the lead up to the game.
“I don’t think any of the new signings, that everyone was pretty excited about, have stepped up and been at the level Inter Miami thought they would be. I don’t think Dayne St. Clair has been at his best, as he was last season. [David] Ayala in the midfield has not been at his most comfortable or best yet. Nor [German] Berterame, who was the big signing. We all thought he’d be banging in goals.”
Kljestan added that the new Miami players are still getting acclimated to playing alongside Messi.
“The players have to step up and learn how to play on Lionel Messi’s team. That’s a difficult thing, for sure. I think Berterame looks lost out there a little bit playing next to Messi, still trying to figure out what kind of movements he needs to make off Messi to be successful and get open in the box.
“It will be on this new coach, Guillermo Hoyos, in these next few games, or as long as he lasts, to get an organization that helps the team be successful without the ball. With the ball, the game’s going to revolve around Messi. That always will happen.”
The Rapids were riding a two-game winning streak and coming off a 6-2 rout of the Houston Dynamo. The Colorado club, celebrating its 30th anniversary, has become one of the league’s highest-scoring teams under first-year coach Matt Wells, the 37-year-old former Tottenham assistant.
The Rapids had scored 19 goals in their first seven games, which was tied with Vancouver for the MLS lead.
Inter Miami faces a quick turnaround. Next, the team travels to Sandy, Utah to take on Real Salt Lake at America First Field on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. ET.
This story was originally published April 18, 2026 at 4:26 PM.