Inter Miami failed to close the gap to Nashville SC at the top of the Eastern Conference, as Sam Surridge's brace cancelled out Lionel Messi's heroics in a 2-2 draw.

Saturday's result – which was sealed by a 91st-minute equaliser from Nashville's leading marksman Surridge – keeps Miami nine points adrift of their visitors, who also lead the Supporters' Shield race with only nine regular-season games remaining.

Nashville only needed four minutes to take the lead, as Surridge brilliantly took a lofted pass from Andy Najar down in behind the Miami backline and drilled beneath Dayne St. Clair, via a slight deflection off Casemiro.

Messi forced a full-stretch save from Brian Schwake in the 19th minute, and from the resulting corner, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner created the equaliser. His inswinging delivery got a glancing touch from Nashville defender Reed Baker-Whiting at the near post, taking it beyond Schwake. 

A slack pass from St. Clair forced Yannick Bright to clear off the line as Hany Mukhtar tried to find a team-mate, but Miami went even closer five minutes into the second half.

Messi's shot clattered off the underside of the crossbar, and German Berterame blazed over on the rebound. 

Messi would not be denied in the 62nd minute, though, as he received Rodrigo De Paul's offload just outside the D and curled a spectacular first-time attempt past Schwake.

Miami had several chances to kill the contest, with Schwake tipping another Messi effort onto the upright before Jeisson Palacios recovered with a superb headed clearance after the Argentine skipped around the goalkeeper in the 88th minute.

And in stoppage time, the Herons were undone by a sucker punch at the other end as St. Clair could only parry Shak Mohammed's drive, leaving Surridge with a tap-in.

Miami were desperate for a victory that would have cut Nashville's lead in the East to six points, and they had one last chance to snatch it when Messi played De Paul in, only for his strike from the right side of the area to smack the far post.

Messi maintains Nashville hoodoo, but Herons still held

Nashville have certainly been Messi's favourite opponent since making the move to MLS. 

He now has 17 goals in 14 matches against them in all competitions and has scored in seven consecutive home games against them, only previously achieving that feat against four teams in his illustrious career. 

They were all with Barcelona, as he netted in seven straight home games against Celta Vigo and Espanyol, and eight in a row versus Levante and Osasuna.

But having hit the woodwork twice, Messi did not finish on the winning side here. For all Miami's late pressure, in fact, Nashville had more shots (18 to 14) and expected goals (2.41 to 1.62 xG) than Kily Gonzalez's hosts.

Miami have now won just one of their last nine home games (D4 L4), while there have been six draws in 17 meetings between these teams (eight Miami wins, three for Nashville) since the start of 2023 – making it the most-played fixture between MLS sides in that time.