Sam Surridge in stoppage time denies Messi and Miami a win: MLS roundup
Nashville SC snatched a late 2-2 draw away to Inter Miami in Saturday's MLS action, with Sam Surridge equalising in the first minute of second-half stoppage time after Lionel Messi had put the hosts ahead. The result was one of several notable outcomes across the league, including Sporting Kansas City ending a long winless run and FC Cincinnati and Charlotte FC sharing a six-goal thriller, as the playoff picture continues to take shape.
Surridge scored twice for Nashville, converting a rebound after Shak Mohammed's shot was saved, to cancel out Messi's 62nd-minute strike, his league-leading 19th goal of the season. The draw extended Inter Miami's poor run to one win in eight league games, while Nashville stayed unbeaten against them in four meetings. Elsewhere, Sporting KC beat LAFC 3-1 to end a losing streak, Orlando City beat Toronto 3-0 behind another Antoine Griezmann goal to make it five wins in a row unbeaten, and Charlotte's 3-3 draw with Cincinnati moved them up to fourth in the Eastern Conference.
- Sam Surridge's stoppage-time goal denied Messi and Miami victory, 2-2.
- Sporting KC ended a losing streak, beating LAFC 3-1.
- Orlando extended their unbeaten run; Charlotte and Cincinnati drew 3-3.
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Nashville SC and Inter Miami are teams in Major League Soccer (MLS), the top professional football division in the United States and Canada. Inter Miami's main draw is Lionel Messi, the Argentine forward regarded as one of the greatest players ever, who joined the club in 2023 and has since been the league's biggest star and top scorer. Nashville, by contrast, are a smaller-profile MLS side who have nonetheless had Inter Miami's number in recent meetings.
The MLS season runs through the year with teams split into Eastern and Western Conferences, and results in the closing weeks matter because they decide which clubs qualify for the end-of-season playoffs. Each match therefore carries extra weight for teams jostling for position, whether they are chasing a top seed or simply trying to avoid missing out altogether.
Sam Surridge is an English striker who plays for Nashville and has built a reputation as a reliable goal-scorer in MLS. Games between Nashville and Inter Miami tend to draw attention beyond the usual fixture because of Messi's involvement, meaning any dramatic late twist, such as a stoppage-time goal, is more widely reported than a typical regular-season result.