Two or Europe's greatest club players took center stage in one of the United States' most iconic American football stadiums on Wednesday -- and a record crowd came out to watch.
Inter Miami CF and Lionel Messi rallied from a goal down at Soldier Field in Chicago for a 1-1 draw against Robert Lewandowski and the Fire in front of 63,094 fans, besting the club's home attendance record set last season in the same matchup.
Ex-Bayern Munich and Barcelona star Lewandowski scored a trademark acrobatic goal in the 10th minute to give the Fire an early lead at the NFL home of the Chicago Bears.
But Inter Miami drew level shortly after halftime when Casemiro, another of the game's stars with a long history of playing in Europe before moving to MLS, headed home a Messi cross from a corner kick to make it 1-1.
The assist was Messi's league-leading 13th of the season. He also has 18 goals and is the first player in MLS history with 30-plus goal contributions in three separate seasons.
With league-leaders Nashville SC losing to Toronto FC earlier in the day, the chance was there for either Miami or Chicago to cut into the lead at the top of the table, but some stellar goalkeeping from home goalkeeper Chris Brady down the stretch saw the game end in a draw.
Brady had six saves for Chicago, including a diving save on a shot from Germán Berterame in the 16th minute -- one of three first-half saves to keep the Fire in front.
"I don't think there was any issue [with the attack] at all. For me, their goalkeeper was the standout player of the match," Miami coach Guillermo Hoyos said.
"The goalkeeper is part of the game, after all. We created chances from various areas, but the goalkeeper played his part well. The guys performed very well, excellently, I'd say; we just missed out on the result we deserved."
Inter Miami, who are in second place, trail its Saturday opponent Nashville by nine points, while the Fire have the chance to leapfrog the New England Revolution from fourth into third in their head-to-head matchup this weekend.
Messi and Miami, who have one win, two draws and four losses since the start of August, are trying to become the first team to win back-to-back championships since the 2011-12 Los Angeles Galaxy.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
