Lionel Messi scored two goals in a Champions League match for Barcelona on April 8, 2009, two days after Adri Mehmeti’s birth.
Just 17 years later, they both had a say in the outcome for their teams on Saturday night.
Messi set up Germán Berterame for a second-half goal that gave Inter Miami its first lead at the new stadium, and Mehmeti’s first Major League Soccer (MLS) goal in the 77th minute lifted the New York Red Bulls to a 2-2 draw with Messi and the defending MLS Cup champions on Saturday night.
Mateo Silvetti also scored for Inter Miami (3-1-3), which is now unbeaten in its last six MLS matches. Jorge Ruvalcaba scored for the Red Bulls (3-2-2), who had one win in their last five games but rallied to take a point out of it after squandering an early 1-0 lead.
Berterame’s goal seemed to give Inter Miami some control.
There were no fewer than four defenders within a few yards of Messi – two of them right between him and the net – when he brought the ball into the penalty area in the 55th minute, and with all those eyes on him, no one seemed to mark Berterame to his left.
No shot, no problem. Actually it was a bit of a bad break for the Red Bulls.
Messi had the ball knocked clear, but it simply rolled towards Berterame, who one-timed it with his right foot to give him a 2-1 lead – with the greatest player ever being the first to wrap him in a celebratory headlock after the goal. It gave Inter Miami its first lead in about 150 minutes of play over two games in the new stadium, which opened last weekend with a draw against Austin FC.
But a few children ensured that the lead did not last.
Julian Hall, 18, set up Mehmeti for the equalizer, found space near the goal line and placed the ball in the perfect spot.
Messi had a chance from about twelve yards out in the 49th minute. He got the ball near the top of the box, stopped on a dime as Red Bulls defender Matthew Dos Santos slid past, tapped the ball to his left foot and attempted a shot at the near post. He went just wide when he fell to the ground.
Both teams had goals disallowed in the second half due to offside calls – New York’s after a review. Messi also had a free kick stopped from 25 yards by Red Bulls goalkeeper Ethan Horvath in the 94th minute.
Published on April 12, 2026
