Inter Miami Score: Messi's 83rd-Minute Winner Beats New England 2-1 and Clinches a Champions Cup Spot
Down 1-0 in the 53rd minute at Gillette Stadium, Inter Miami turned it in fourteen minutes: German Berterame equalized off a Lionel Messi assist in the 69th, and Messi won it himself in the 83rd — 2-1, second place in the East, and a 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup berth locked up.
Inter Miami left Foxborough with the result its season needed, beating the New England Revolution 2-1 on Sunday night at Gillette Stadium on a late Lionel Messi winner that moved Miami into second place in the Eastern Conference and clinched the club's spot in the 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup with one regular-season game to spare.
For a half, there was nothing in it. New England registered six shots and five corner kicks before the break and the match went to halftime 0-0, and the Revolution struck first eight minutes after it: Peyton Miller beat his man down the right and slid a pass toward the penalty spot, Ilay Feingold backheeled it on, and Daniel Gazdag powered his first-time shot past Dayne St. Clair from eight yards in the 53rd minute. Miami's answer started with Messi forcing a diving stop from Matt Turner in the 65th, Brooklyn Raines clearing German Berterame's rebound off the line — and landed four minutes later, when Telasco Segovia scooped a lofted pass to Messi, who popped a header into Berterame's path for a downward finish into the bottom right corner and a 1-1 game in the 69th.
The winner, in the 83rd, was Messi's own construction: he picked up a loose ball some 30 yards from goal, slalomed through multiple defenders, and — with Segovia shielding a defender and playing the ball back onto his captain's left foot — finished low into the bottom left corner past Turner. Field Level Media counts it as Messi's MLS-leading 26th goal of the season; Segovia assisted both Miami goals. New England thought it had stolen a point three minutes later, but an apparent 87th-minute own-goal equalizer was overturned on video review, referee Sergii Boiko ruling Luca Langoni offside on the play.
The standings consequence is the story under the story: Inter Miami (16-6-11, 59 points) leapfrogs New England (18-11-4, 58 points) into second in the East, snaps a two-match winless run, and ends the Revolution's four-match winning streak. The Champions Cup berth — alongside Nashville SC, New England and Vancouver — is secured before Decision Day, so Miami's regular-season finale at home against Charlotte FC on November 7 is now about playoff seeding, not survival.
