Lionel Messi was on the scoresheet in his return as Inter Miami played out a draw against Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer on Saturday. Messi did not start the match and came off the bench to score Miami’s goal but his team was held to a 2-2 draw. The Argentine player had to miss nearly a month due to a hamstring injury, missing the last four matches, but was on the reserve list for the home match.

Messi missed Wednesday’s 2-1 home loss to Mexico’s Monterrey in the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarter-finals and with the return leg on Wednesday, Inter coach Gerard Martino rotated his squad.

Martino was introduced in the reserve team with Messi’s former Barcelona teammates Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba also on the bench.

The youthful starting line-up looked comfortable, not threatening too often, but fell behind in the first half when defender Ryan Sailor made a brutal tackle in the box on the French striker Kevin Cabral of Colorado.

Rapids’ Brazilian striker Rafael Navarro successfully converted the penalty kick to give Colorado a 1-0 lead at the break.

Messi was introduced after the interval and made an immediate impact.

After just 12 minutes on the field, the Argentine World Cup winner put Miami past the post after Franco Negri’s low cross from the left wing.

Busquets was then introduced and Miami took the lead on the hour – Messi rushed from midfield, passed to David Ruiz from the right and his cross was coolly met by debutant Leonardo Afonso.

Messi then made an excellent save from Colorado’s former Manchester City goalkeeper Zack Steffen, then from a tight angle at the far post, hit the woodwork.

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But the third goal never came and Miami paid the price in the 88th minute when Calvin Harris led a counter-attack from the right and found Cole Bassett, who scored the home side’s equaliser.

‘He feels good’

While Miami was disappointed to lose 2 points within reach, Messi’s return to the field was a motivation for Martino before the trip to Monterrey.

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“What Leo did was normal for him, what he incited in our team, his teammates and everyone. The most important thing is that he feels comfortable, feels good and feels loose,” the coach said.

“This will give him more confidence, especially in terms of injury, for the return leg in Monterrey,” he added.

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But Martino was disappointed with the way his team conceded a late goal.

“It was a shame to lose two points (…) but I think we continued to make mistakes that saw us drop points along the way.

“In the 87th minute, leading 2-1, being caught in a counter-attack is unusual, typically not reading the game well, at the moment, with no one in front of us, we are sure . struggle with that,” he said.

In the Los Angeles derby – LAFC defeated LA Galaxy 2-1 after Denis Bouanga’s controversial penalty.

Timothy Tillman put LAFC ahead in the fourth minute, swiping the ball in from close range after a corner kick.

Galaxy leveled in the 29th minute through Argentine Julian Aude, who saw a shot hit the post but rebounded, had another shot saved before scoring with his third attempt.

But the result was decided by a questionable penalty when French striker Bouanga fell under the challenge of Galaxy’s Japanese defender Miki Yamane.

Bouanga appeared to have control of his own feet and there was then some slight contact and VAR sent referee Jon Freemon to monitor the pitch but surprisingly he chose to stand by his decision.

Bouanga, last season’s top scorer in MLS, converted the penalty kick to give LAFC three points.

Defending champion Columbus Crew had to come back from 10 men to salvage a 1-1 draw at home against DC United.

Belgian striker Christian Benteke put DC ahead in the 61st minute with a close-range finish before the Crew’s Colombian striker Cucho Hernandez, returning after a three-match absence, was sent off for brawling. click Christopher McVey.

But three minutes later, Aidan Morris leveled the score for Columbus with a thunderous shot from 25 meters away.