Lionel Messi Scores Twice as Inter Miami Edge Rapids 3-2 Before Second-Largest Crowd in MLS History

Seventy-five thousand people did not pack an NFL stadium in Denver on a Saturday afternoon to watch a tidy midfield battle. They came for the man in pink wearing No. 10, and with 11 minutes left and the game tied, Lionel Messi gave them exactly what the ticket promised.

Messi scored twice, including a curling 79th-minute winner, and Inter Miami beat the Colorado Rapids 3-2 at Empower Field at Mile High in front of 75,824 fans. According to MLS, that is the second-highest single-game attendance in league history, and the Rapids said it broke the club's attendance record, which had stood since 2002. Colorado moved its 30th Anniversary Match out of its usual home for the occasion, erased a two-goal deficit in four second-half minutes and still went home empty-handed. Messi things.

A Penalty, a Header and a Celebration Penalty

The Rapids had the better of the opening exchanges, and they had plenty of the ball all day. But the first big moment went Miami's way. Yannick Bright drew a foul in the box from Josh Atencio in the 14th minute, VAR ruled it a penalty, Atencio was booked, and Messi rolled a left-footed spot kick down the middle in the 18th.

Colorado kept probing. Paxten Aaronson pulled a shot wide in the 23rd and forced Dayne St. Clair into a save in the 38th, and Wayne Frederick sent a strike over a minute later. Meanwhile, Miami was collecting yellow cards like stamps in a passport: Rodrigo De Paul in the 22nd minute, Micael in the 29th.

Then came the dagger right before halftime. Five minutes into first-half stoppage time, Mateo Silvetti delivered from the right and Germán Berterame powered a header into the roof of the net from point-blank range. Per the AP and MLS, Berterame has now scored in back-to-back games, the first of them his first MLS goal in a 2-2 draw with the Red Bulls. Berterame celebrated so enthusiastically that referee Jon Freemon booked him for it. Worth it? At 2-0 on the road, probably.

Four Minutes of Mile High Chaos

Colorado came out of the locker room with real menace. In the 58th minute, Rafael Navarro picked up the ball well inside Miami's half, carried it at the defense, shifted onto his right foot and slotted into the bottom right corner, with Frederick credited for the assist. It was Navarro's sixth goal of the season, according to the AP.

Matt Wells' side was not done. Darren Yapi came on for Hamzat Ojediran in the 61st minute, and roughly a minute later he was running onto a through ball from 18-year-old Lucas Herrington, as the Rapids noted, and finishing with his left foot from the left side of the box. 2-2. The building shook.

Miami's afternoon got thinner from there. Silvetti came off injured in the 70th minute, replaced by Noah Allen, with Dániel Pintér coming on for Gonzalo Luján at the same time.

The Turning Point: The 79th Minute

Messi warmed up with a direct free kick that sailed over in the 77th minute. Two minutes later, Miami won the ball and broke, De Paul found Messi down the right, and the Argentine shaped a left-footed shot from the right side of the box into the top left corner. Cue 75,824 people reaching for superlatives, whichever jersey they had on.

"I think there was an important reaction after the 2-2, where we had to change our shape," interim coach Guillermo Hoyos told reporters, per MLS.

It was not tidy after that. Telasco Segovia was booked in the 86th minute and Bright was sent off in the 87th, leaving Miami a man down. Yapi headed a Dante Sealy corner wide from close range in the 89th, Sealy had another shot blocked in stoppage time, and Messi even took a yellow card in the 92nd minute. Miami survived seven minutes of added time to close it out.

Star Watch

Messi finished with two goals on three shots and now has seven goals this season, per the AP. De Paul's assist on the winner was his third of the regular season, per Inter Miami, and Silvetti's delivery for Berterame was also his third.

For Colorado, Navarro and Yapi both scored, Frederick set up the first goal before being booked in the 64th minute, and Herrington's pass for the equalizer was the kind of ball that gets a teenage defender noticed. Yapi led a busy Rapids attack with three attempts, and Aaronson added two.

St. Clair only had to make two saves, but he made them. At the other end, Zack Steffen did not make a single save, because every one of Miami's three shots on target went in.

Stats That Matter

• Possession: Colorado 61.9 percent, Miami 38.1 percent.
• Shots: Colorado 14, Miami 5. On target: Colorado 4, Miami 3.
• Finishing: Miami scored on all three of its shots on target.
• Discipline: Miami committed 19 fouls, collected five yellows and had Bright sent off.
• Attendance: 75,824, the second-highest single-game crowd in MLS history, per MLS.

What It Means

Inter Miami moves to 4-3-1 with 15 points. According to the AP, Miami has not lost since a 3-0 defeat to LAFC on opening weekend, stretching its unbeaten run to seven. Inter Miami said it owns the league's best road record so far, and it was Hoyos' first win since taking over. Hoyos, who had been serving as the club's sporting director before taking the coaching duties, per the AP, admitted the day got to him: "So I got very emotional many times. Because that's what football is: emotion." Miami heads to Real Salt Lake on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. ET.

Colorado drops to 4-0-4 with 12 points, a week after hammering Houston 6-2. The Rapids visit LAFC on Wednesday.

Closing Take

Hoyos put it plainly afterward: "It's a great blessing to have him." Colorado did nearly everything right on a historic afternoon. The Rapids out-possessed, out-shot and briefly out-willed the reigning MLS Cup champions. The problem with throwing the party of the decade is that sometimes the guest of honor steals the cake on his way out.

Stats from ESPN's match data and the AP recap via ESPN. Postgame quotes as reported by MLS (mlssoccer.com); additional details from the Colorado Rapids (coloradorapids.com) and Inter Miami CF (intermiamicf.com).