Messi, Miami frustrated in 2-2 draw with San Diego

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami faced a setback in their pursuit of topping the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer on Sunday, as they were held to a 2-2 draw by San Diego in Florida. Danish striker Anders Dreyer was the hero for San Diego, scoring two goals to secure a point share for his team at Miami's Nu Stadium. The result left Inter Miami trailing Nashville by 11 points with eight regular-season games remaining.

Dreyer opened the scoring for San Diego in the 12th minute, capitalizing on a well-placed through ball from Jeppe Tverskov and slotting a delicate chip past Miami's goalkeeper, Dayne St. Clair. Despite dominating territorial and possession battles, Inter Miami managed to level the score in the 24th minute when Messi, who had scored his 101st goal for the club, curled a free-kick into the post and into the net.

With both teams pressing for a winner, Messi, Luis Suarez, and Rodrigo De Paul all created chances, but San Diego managed to maintain their grip on the game. The deadlock was broken in the 74th minute when De Paul delivered a clever pass for Suarez, who netted his second goal of the match, making it 2-1 for Inter Miami. However, San Diego equalized again in the 84th minute, once again through Dreyer, who was set up perfectly by Tverskov.

The tension escalated in the closing stages, with San Diego almost snatching victory deep into stoppage time, but St. Clair managed to block Kieran Sargeant's late effort.