Lionel Messi Scores Twice as Inter Miami Rally Past Orlando City 4-2 for First Win in Orlando

At halftime, Orlando City SC were 45 minutes away from another Florida Derby celebration and Inter Miami CF were staring at their second straight loss to open the season. Then Lionel Messi decided the script needed a rewrite.

Inter Miami CF beat Orlando City SC 4-2 on Sunday night at Inter&Co Stadium, scoring all four of their goals in the second half after trailing 2-0 at the break. Messi scored twice, including a late free kick, and Telasco Segovia had a goal and two assists. According to the AP, Miami had never won in its previous nine trips to Orlando. Miami moved to 1-0-1 with three points, while Orlando fell to 0-0-2 with zero points.

Orlando's Dream Half

For 45 minutes, Orlando looked like the team that had owned this rivalry lately. Marco Pasalic opened the scoring in the 18th minute, taking an Iván Angulo pass and finishing with his left foot into the bottom right corner from the center of the box. The AP noted Pasalic has now scored in four straight matches against Inter Miami. Six minutes later, Griffin Dorsey teed up Martín Ojeda, who hit the same corner with his left foot for a 2-0 lead.

Oscar Pareja's youngsters were holding up, too. Tahir Reid-Brown was making his professional debut, according to Orlando, and the AP said 19-year-old Colin Guske was making his first start. Miami had chances to respond before the break, but Maxime Crépeau was sharp, saving from Rodrigo De Paul in the 27th minute, Messi in the 28th and Tadeo Allende in the 33rd. Messi also had three efforts blocked before halftime. The hosts went into the locker room up 2-0, and Reid-Brown later admitted that lead had them "feeling confident."

The Second-Half Avalanche

Javier Mascherano sent on Mateo Silvetti for Noah Allen at halftime, and the change paid off almost immediately. In the 49th minute Silvetti took a pass from Segovia and drove a right-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom left corner. The AP said it was the 20-year-old's first career goal, in his fifth career appearance.

Orlando wobbled. Dayne St. Clair had to save from Martín Ojeda in the 51st minute, and then Messi took over. Crépeau stopped his long-range shot in the 56th minute, but a minute later Segovia found him again and Messi fired a left-footed shot from outside the box into the top right corner. It was 2-2, and the momentum had swung completely.

Orlando nearly took the lead back in the 61st minute when David Brekalo headed a Martín Ojeda corner off the left post. St. Clair then stopped Martín Ojeda again in the 70th minute and Brekalo from point-blank range in the 78th. Those saves mattered. In the 85th minute Segovia scored from the center of the box with his right foot to put Miami ahead 3-2, and three minutes later Guske was sent off for a second yellow card. Messi stepped up to a free kick in the 90th minute and sent it into the bottom left corner to make it 4-2. The fourth official added 10 minutes of stoppage time, and Orlando managed only two long-range misses in all of it.

The Stars

Lionel Messi took eight shots, put four on target and scored twice. They were his first two goals of the season, and the AP said they gave him 52 goals in his first 55 regular-season MLS matches.

Telasco Segovia had a goal and two assists, setting up both Silvetti and Messi's equalizer before scoring the winner. The AP noted he had eight goals and six assists as a rookie last season.

Mateo Silvetti scored with one of his two shots, giving Miami the spark they needed right after halftime.

Dayne St. Clair made three saves, all in the second half, the AP noted.

For Orlando, Martín Ojeda scored and put three of his four shots on target, and Maxime Crépeau made four saves.

The Turning Point

The 61st minute. Brekalo's header hit the post, and four minutes after Miami had tied it, Orlando had a chance to reclaim the lead. Instead, the ball stayed out, Miami kept coming and the match turned into a Messi highlight package. Pasalic summed it up bluntly: "Two mistakes led to two goals for Miami."

Stats That Matter

• Possession: Inter Miami had 61 percent.
• Shots: Miami took 15 to Orlando's 10, and put 8 on target to Orlando's 5.
• Corners: Miami won 8, Orlando 2.
• Saves: Crépeau 4, St. Clair 3.
• Passing: Miami completed 557 of 628 passes.

What It Means

Miami bounced back from the 3-0 loss at LAFC that opened their season, and they did it in a stadium where they had never won before. Mascherano gave all the credit to his players. "In the second half, they were a championship team," he said. On Messi, he went even further. "He's the best player to ever play this sport," he said. Miami visit D.C. United on Saturday.

Orlando are 0-0-2 after a 2-1 home loss to Red Bull New York in the opener. The AP said Orlando swept Inter Miami in the regular season last year and lead the all-time series 8-7-4, but this one got away. Pareja still saw progress. "It was a much better version of us today," he said. The Lions visit New York City FC next, and the AP said Guske will miss that match.

The Last Word

Martín Ojeda put the lesson in simple terms. "With the quality of players they have, we can't give them even a meter of advantage and I think that was the difference," he said. Orlando gave Miami a meter, and Messi turned it into a mile. It was the kind of second-half comeback that makes you want to go back and rewatch the first half just to see how it was possible.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Additional details from the AP and OrlandoCitySC.com. Postgame quotes as reported by the AP and OrlandoCitySC.com.