NYCFC vs. Inter Miami final score, result as James Sands bags last-gasp equalizer to peg Messi's Herons back

Inter Miami appeared on track to take three points home from the iconic Yankee Stadium and put them another step closer to the Supporters' Shield and an MLS points record.

Then, New York born-and-bred James Sands said not so fast.

Leonardo Campana's 75th-minute goal seemed to have put the Herons in front despite a sub-par performance overall, but Sands rose high on a 95th minute corner to head home his first MLS goal to snatch a point at the very death.

In Lionel Messi's first match in the state of New York, Inter Miami had more yellow cards than scoring chances through the first 70 minutes of action as they nearly lost their heads on a few occasions, but the Argentine legend dragged his team in front by springing a dangerous counter-attack finished off by Campana.

NYCFC had seen Keaton Parks and Santiago Rodriguez miss glorious second-half opportunities to score, and it appeared they would rue those ugly misses. Yet at the game wound to a close, Sands gave his side a much-needed lift as they sputtered towards the end of the regular season.

Inter Miami still sit in a commanding position atop the MLS standings, but have lagged in their quest to top the 72-point single-season record, sitting eight behind with four games to go. NYCFC, meanwhile, head into the Hudson River derby against the New York Red Bulls with a bit of momentum, although they are without a single league win since early July and will miss a pair of key players due to suspension in the rivalry match.

The Sporting News followed the NYCFC vs. Inter Miami match live, providing score updates, commentary and highlights as they happened.

NYCFC vs. Inter Miami final score

Kickoff: 2:10 p.m. ET / 11:10 a.m. PT
Location: Yankee Stadium (The Bronx, NY)
Referee: Jon Freemon

Starting lineups:

NYCFC (4-2-3-1, right to left): 49. Freese (GK) — 24. Gray (Ilenic, 80'), 13. Martins, 12. Tanasijevic, 22. O'Toole (McFarlane, 88') — 6. Sands, 55. Parks (Perea, 80') — 17. Wolff (J. Fernandez, 88'),  10. S. Rodriguez, 27. Moralez — 16. A. Martinez (Bakrar, 80').

Inter Miami (3-5-2, right to left): 1. Callender (GK) — 32. Allen (Kryvtsov, 90'), 17. Fray, 6. Aviles — 16. Taylor (Campana, 71'), 55. Redondo, 42. Bright, 24. Gressel (Cremaschi, 81'), 18. Alba — 10. Messi, 9. Suarez.

MORE: Inter Miami's chase of Supporters' Shield still second-fiddle to MLS Cup dreams

NYCFC vs. Inter Miami live updates, highlights from MLS

FULLTIME: NYCFC 1-1 Inter Miami

Well, that was quite the finish! In truth, NYCFC deserved to get at least a point in that match, and they probably have a fair argument that they were the better side overall.

Still, they had wasted their best chances and made the mistake of angering Lionel Messi, which are not parts of a winning formula. Yet there was James Sands with his first career MLS goal, a massive moment to find the net.

In the end, Lionel Messi and Inter Miami are left without the three points that would have put them in prime position to finish off the Supporters' Shield and on their way towards rewriting the single-season points record. Now, they'll need eight points from their final four matches just to level the mark, while needing nine to top it.

90+5 min: GOAL! NYCFC! THE LATE EQUALIZER AT THE DEATH GIVES NYCFC LIFE!!! The corner following the previous chance is sent in to the near post, and with Drake Callender in no-man's land, James Sands out-jumps Tomas Aviles and heads it into the net! DRAMA!!!

JAMES WITH HIS FIRST @MLS GOAL 🤩 pic.twitter.com/eqrMUBrgtb

— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) September 21, 2024

90+3 min: Chance, NYCFC! NYCFC have maybe their last chance to find an equalizer in the third of five minutes of stoppage time, as they're given a dangerous free-kick just outside the top of the penalty area. Before they can take the chance, Noah Allen has to be brought off after he landed awkwardly from an aerial duel and was stepped on in the aftermath, but as Allen limps off Serhiy Kryvtsov comes into the action.

The delivery just outside the top-right corner of the penalty area is an awkwardly low one, and skitters through the trees dangerously, but after clipping an Inter Miami defender it goes harmlessly wide.

87th min: Chance, NYCFC! Oh no, just like Keaton Parks 25 minutes ago, Santiago Rodriguez skies it from the penalty spot! Maxi Moralez laid it off brilliantly after a cross from deep on the right, but the NYCFC playmaker gets under it and launches his shot into Row Z from around 14 yards out!

One last gasp for NYCFC coach Nick Cushing as he makes his final two substitutions. Kevin O'Toole and Mannes Wolf are withdrawn and replaced by Julian Fernandez and Christian McFarlane.

86th min: The game's ninth yellow card is shown to NYCFC's Maxi Moralez after he leaves Jordi Alba in a heap on the pitch.

79th min: Keaton Parks picks up a yellow card for fouling Leonardo Campana from behind, the eighth of the game shown to a player in this match. He's immediately brought off, with Andreas Perea entering in his place. There are two more NYCFC substitutions as well, with Mitja Ilenic and Monsef Bakrar come on for Tayvon Gray and Alonso Martinez, while Benjamin Cremaschi comes on to replace Inter Miami midfielder Julian Gressel.

NYCFC defender Thiago Martins has been chirping at Lionel Messi ever since the initial coming together at the hour mark. With Inter Miami going in front, he's still going, and Messi gives him a laugh like "who's this guy?" It's a pretty humorous moment, as Martins becomes the latest in a long line of players to learn not to make Messi angry.

75th min: GOAL! INTER MIAMI! They've not had their best today, but Inter Miami strike on a counter-attack with pace and ferocity to go in front, finished by Leonardo Campana!

Lionel Messi starts the move by driving forward past James Sands, and his vertical ball springs Jordi Alba through on a two-on-one. The full-back could have taken it himself, but he unselfishly squares it to Campana leaving the substitute with a tap-in into an open net.

Messi --> Alba --> Campana@InterMiamiCF take the lead with 15 minutes remaining. pic.twitter.com/1icY7I3bIh

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 21, 2024

71st min: NYCFC now picks up a yellow card, and it's a painful one, as Santiago Rodriguez is booked for leaving Tomas Aviles in a heap with a two-handed shove in the back. It means the playmaker will miss the next match for accumulation, seeing him out of the rivalry match against the New York Red Bulls.

During the stoppage, we finally get our first substitution of the match as Leonardo Campana enters in place of Robert Taylor.

68th min: Once the dust has settled, the NYCFC free-kick from Santiago Rodriguez is blasted into the wall, but then right after Luis Suarez picks up a yellow card for pummeling Hannes Wolf on an aerial duel. Tata Martino has to sort out his side, as his players are beginning to lose their heads. Changes are needed.

65th min: The bookings are piling up for Inter Miami, who have got to keep their cool. This time Noah Allen is booked not for his foul at the top of the penalty area, but for his reaction to the referee's whistle.

In the aftermath, Tata Martino's son Gerardo Jr, a member of the Inter Miami coaching staff, is shown a yellow by the official and then immediately given a second booking, thus required to depart. The visitors are melting down here, and NYCFC will be pleased with how much they've gotten under the opponent's skin.

63rd min: Now it's getting chippy, as Lionel Messi gives Thiago Martins an earful before things begin to kick off. Jordi Alba and Tomas Aviles are both booked in the aftermath for their reactions, the former for a two-handed shove of Martins in the back, and Aviles for his late, aggressive arrival to the scrum.

For Aviles, the young defender has struggled mightily with his discipline this year, already having been suspended five games this season for disciplinary issues.

61st min: Chance, NYCFC! Drake Callender is forced to make a good diving save to prevent Hannes Wolf from scoring the opener, as the NYCFC winger tries to poke it through the trees from just inside the top of the penalty area!

58th min: NYCFC have been clearly the better side in this second half, as they have used strong possessional domination and good midfield pressure to keep Inter Miami from having any joy on the ball.

47th min: Chance, NYCFC! THE HOSTS HAVE HORRIBLY MISSED! It's a truly tragic flub by Keaton Parks who is clean through on goal from 12 yards out but cannons his shot miles into the New York sky! Oh my goodness, that has to be a goal!

Parks was played through off a wonderful turn and touch by Hannes Wolf who reached for the ball and tapped it perfectly in the path of Parks, but it all comes for nothing. They'll surely rue that one!

In the aftermath, Santiago Rodriguez blasts a curling shot that bends just wide of Drake Callender's dive, beating the goalkeeper but also beating the right post.

2nd half kickoff: They're back under way at Yankee Stadium as both sides look for some control of what has been a chaotic match to this point.

The MLS Season Pass broadcast of the game showed a graphic just before the restart which showed Inter Miami were heavily imbalanced in their attack, pushing forward most often through the right vertical quadrant, to the tune of 47 percent. They will want to be less predictable moving forward.

HALFTIME: NYCFC 0-0 Inter Miami

Neither team managed to get a strong grip on the match over the first 45 minutes, as they head to the break scoreless without any stoppage time needed. Nobody's managed to create much aside from the dead-ball opportunities, with only the Suarez shot blocked by Robert Taylor being a truly threatening chance from open play.

It's hard to criticize any side for being poor, but there's nobody that stands out as truly high-quality either. The final 45 minutes will decide who takes the points from this one.

44th min: The game has been far more open over the last 10 minutes, but there's been very little end product as both teams instead produce some strong emergency defending. This game is very high on energy but is lacking a good amount of quality.

35th min: Now yet another free-kick to NYCFC for a foul by Ian Fray, who is booked for what the referee gestures as accumulation. The set-piece is wasted as it's dragged away from danger, and the ensuing corner is also cleared.

27th min: Strahinja Tanasijevic is booked for a hard blocking foul on the touchline. That triggers a yellow card accumulation suspension in NYCFC's next match, which just so happens to be the Hudson River derby against the New York Red Bulls.

25th min: NYCFC are handed another dangerous set-piece opportunity as Yannick Bright fouls Santiago Rodriguez from behind. The hosts want a yellow card but none is produced by the referee. To take the free-kick from 23 yards out is Maxi Moralez, but his curler does not have the requisite pace to beat the Inter Miami goalkeeper at the near post and he catches it comfortably.

23rd min: Chance, Inter Miami! HOW ON EARTH HAS THAT NOT GONE IN THE BACK OF THE NET?!?!? Luis Suarez has a glorious chance to score but sees his shot cannons into his teammate before reaching the goal mouth, and then Lionel Messi's follow-up is stopped by nothing short of a miraculous save by David Freese who gets his foot to the ball despite diving away from the shot!

The offside flag is up in the end, because Robert Taylor was the one who Suarez blasted his shot into and was in an offside position, so Freese's stop was for naught, but irregardless, it's one for the goalkeeper's highlight reel.

22nd min: Chance, Inter Miami! Lionel Messi has been looking for an Olimpico since joining his new MLS club, and he comes agonizingly close here! His corner delivery nearly picks out the far corner, but David Freese makes an impressive leap, and while he bobbles the first attempt to catch, he grabs it before falling to the turf. An impressive stop, so close for Messi!

20th min: There's been little in terms of attacking third action since the pair of free-kick chances, but Inter Miami look like they are starting to turn the screw. Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez are both fed in the penalty area, but Messi can't get a shot off and the through-ball for Suarez is took long and claimed by the goalkeeper.

11th min: Chance, NYCFC! It's the hosts' turn to come exceedingly close to scoring off a free-kick, but the low delivery from Santiago Rodriguez is stopped awkwardly by Drake Callender! The Inter Miami goalkeeper is exceedingly lucky to keep that one out, as it actually beats Callender, but then strikes the post, ricochets out, hits the goalkeeper in the back, and somehow flashes wide of the woodwork!

That very easily could have gone in the net in a number of ways, how have NYCFC not scored???

5th min: Chance, Inter Miami! A very dubious handball is whistled on NYCFC to hand Lionel Messi a dangerous free-kick from about 25 yards out. The world's greatest player comes incredibly close to picking out the top-right corner with the set piece chance, but the ball flashes just wide of the frame. A replay of the supposed foul shows nothing from Keaton Parks or James Sands, so it would have been highly controversial had Messi found the back of the net there.

3rd min: The game's first effort on goal falls to NYCFC who have pushed forward in the attack early on, and 37-year-old Maxi Moralez takes aim on goal from outside the top of the penalty area, but his shot is dragged wide. It wasn't far off target, but Drake Callender did appear to have the goal covered had it been on frame.

Kickoff: They're under way at the iconic Yankee Stadium! Lionel Messi, who reportedly leads all players around the globe in jersey sales this year, plays his first-ever match at not only this hallowed venue but in the entire state of New York.

NYCFC vs. Inter Miami: Pre-match commentary, analysis, more

15 mins to kickoff: Inter Miami have finally announced why Sergio Busquets is not involved today, as he misses the match for "personal reasons." Franco Panizo of The Athletic states that while no specifics were given, it's possible that his absence could be related to Busquets' recent engagement earlier in the week to his now-fiance Elena Galera.

30 mins to kickoff: Soccer at Yankee Stadium will always be a little jarring, but today there is a huge crowd expected to watch Lionel Messi take the field.

Beautiful Saturday afternoon here in the Bronx, just in time for a historic matchup between #NYCFC and Inter Miami at 2pm.

Lionel Messi will likely be making his Yankee Stadium debut, with an expected 40,000+ in attendance to see the greatest of all time in the world’s game. pic.twitter.com/ZxE2GTxUE4

— Matthew Mangam (@MatthewMangam) September 21, 2024

45 mins to kickoff: For NYCFC, the only surprise is 37-year-old Maxi Moralez coming into the starting lineup for just his second start since the end of June.

1 hour to kickoff: Lineups are in, and Lionel Messi is indeed in the starting XI for Inter Miami! Marcelo Weigandt is rested amongst the substitutes, with the versatile Robert Taylor deployed at right-back.

The real surprise was the absence of Sergio Busquets, who was expected to return from yellow card suspension but is not included in the matchday squad.

1 hour 15 mins to kick: There is a plausible scenario, albeit somewhat unlikely, of results that would see Inter Miami three points away from the Supporters' Shield once the matchday is complete. Per Ian Hest of The Heron Outlet, the following combination of results would leave Inter Miami one win away from confirming the MLS regular season championship by the end of the day:

• Inter Miami win vs. NYCFC
• Columbus Crew fail to win vs. Orlando City
• FC Cincinnati fail to win vs. Nashville SC
• LA Galaxy fail to win vs. Vancouver Whitecaps

1 hour 30 mins to kick: Former NYCFC manager Patrick Vieira was on NBC's Premier League prematch show live from their Fan Fest in Chicago. Vieira being on U.S. soil is notable, because there's been tips that he could be a candidate to take over at Atlanta United, who are currently being coached by interim Rob Valentino.

1 hour 45 mins to kick: Lionel Messi's jersey has been included in Inter Miami's promotion of this match, a good indication he will be involved in some capacity, likely from the start after being rested midweek.

📍🏟️✨#NYCvMIA | 2:00PM ET | 📺 #MLSSeasonPass on @AppleTV: https://t.co/wKWblbnqSa pic.twitter.com/U8d5oD7hrq

— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) September 21, 2024

2 hours to kickoff: Incredibly, this will be the first time that Lionel Messi has played in the state of New York. He has played at MetLife Stadium and Red Bull Arena, scoring a hat-trick in the former, but both of those venues are technically located in New Jersey.

NYCFC vs. Inter Miami kickoff time

This MLS match kicks off from Yankee Stadium on Saturday, September 21 at 2 p.m. local time in The Bronx, New York.

Here's how that time translates across the time zones in North America:

NYCFC vs. Inter Miami lineups, team news, starting 11

NYCFC may be in a poor run of form, but injuries are not to blame. They are only missing winger Malachi Jones with a leg fracture and defender Birk Risa with a lower body injury.

Maxi Moralez is 37 years old now and has seen only limited minutes this season but has been given a rare start as head coach Nick Cushing looks to rotate the side.

NYCFC starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Freese (GK) — Gray, Martins, Tanasijevic, O'Toole — Sands, Parks — Wolff,  S. Rodriguez, Moralez — A. Martinez.

NYCFC subs (9): Barraza (GK), Mijatovic, Perea, Bakrar, J. Fernandez, McFarlane, Ojeda, Ilenic, Haak.

Inter Miami are inundated with injuries, but they at least get suspended duo Sergio Busquets and Tomas Aviles back...or at least, they were supposed to, but Busquets did not appear in the matchday squad, with the club stating he misses out due to "personal reasons."

Head coach Tata Martino, who was not on the touchline Wednesday due to yellow-card suspension, is back. Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Jordi Alba all came off the bench against Atlanta and have been recalled into the starting lineup today.

The back line is ravaged with fitness concerns, with David Martinez down for a few weeks with a groin injury while Nicolas Freire is out for the season with an ACL tear. Noah Allen is fine, according to the manager, but needs to clear concussion protocol before he can return.

Diego Gomez has sustained a hamstring injury and will miss time, Matias Rojas is absent with an ankle issue, Leo Afonso is dealing with a groin injury, and Facundo Farias is out for the season with an ACL tear.

Inter Miami starting lineup (3-5-2): Callender (GK) — Allen, Fray, Aviles — Taylor, Redondo, Bright, Gressel, Alba — Messi, Suarez.

Inter Miami subs (9): Ustari (GK), Sailor, Kryvtsov, Negri, Weigandt, Sunderland, D. Ruiz, Cremaschi, Campana.

NYCFC vs. Inter Miami live stream, TV channel

• Date: Saturday, Sep. 21, 2024
• Time: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT
• TV channel: None
• Streaming: MLS Season Pass from Apple TV

The MLS match between Atlanta United and Inter Miami will be available exclusively to MLS Season Pass subscribers on Apple TV.

With the home stretch in view, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV is being offered at its lowest price of the season. Fans can sign up for a seasonal subscription to MLS Season Pass for just $9.99 to catch the remainder of the 2024 season, including the MLS Cup playoffs. Existing Apple TV+ subscribers can sign up for a seasonal subscription to MLS Season Pass for free for the remainder of the 2024 season and playoffs.