James Sands recorded his first MLS goal for New York City FC during stoppage time to help his team salvage a point with a 1-1 draw with Lionel Messi-led Inter Miami on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
Sands’ goal came in the 95th minute with his club down by one in an important game late in the season as NYCFC is still battling for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference.
The New York City midfielder leaped into the air to head a Santiago Rodríguez corner kick past Drake Callender for the equalizer.
The dramatic finish sent the Yankee Stadium crowd home getting their money’s worth with the larger-than-usual crowd on hand in large part to see Messi, who was playing in the Big Apple for the first time since he made the jump to MLS.
Messi had used his golden leg earlier in the match to help set up an Inter Miami goal, delighting the largely pro-Messi crowd.
Messi stormed up the pitch and threaded a perfect pass to Jordi Alba inside the box, who was able to get a quick touch over to Leo Campana for the goal in the 75th minute of what had been a scoreless game.
The Messi moment stopped short of the goal New York area soccer fans were treated to by the Argenitan superstar last year when faced the New York Red Bulls.
But the large swaths of fans — clad in Inter Miami gear — erupted at the Campana goal.
While all eyes had been on Messi from start to finish, NYCFC had appeared to be the better team for large portions of the game, but just never capitalized on their chances until late in the game.
Hannes Wolf had back-to-back chances in the 60th and 61st minutes, one of which forced Callender to make a diving save.
The match was largely benign until the latter part of the second half when tempers started to flare between the two clubs.
In a roughly eight-minute span between the 63rd minute and 71st a combined five yellow cards — four for Inter Miami and one for NYCFC — were handed out and Inter Miami assistant coach Gerardo Andres Martino was given a red card.
There had been some questions about whether Messi would be in Inter Miami’s starting lineup on Saturday afternoon after he came in off the bench on Wednesday in Atlanta.
Messi is in his first week back after recovering from an ankle injury he suffered during the Copa America final in July and did start for Miami against NYCFC.
NYCFC officials had expected a big crowd in The Bronx for Messi’s first official Big Apple appearance with Miami, with expectations of over 40,000.
The upper deck of Yankee Stadium, which is usually closed for NYCFC matches, was opened in anticipation of the larger-than-usual fan presence.
Pink Inter Miami jerseys — many adorned with Messi’s name on the back — were easily spotted among the fans in attendance.
Messi was greeted by a loud ovation when he walked onto the pitch for warmups and when his name was mentioned as part of the starting lineup.
And a swell of excitement grew every time Messi touched the ball.
NYCFC supporters tried to counter the Messi mania with a banner they unfurled before kickoff that depicted Inter Miami fans as plastic and poked fun at the surge in the club’s popularity due to the Argentinan soccer star.