Messi's 76th free kick, and a stoppage-time winner for Columbus

Lionel Messi's last club match before his Argentina farewell ended in defeat. Columbus Crew beat Inter Miami 2-1 at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field on Sunday night — Monday 07:00 in Shanghai — with substitute Jamal Thiaré scoring in the eighth minute of stoppage time, minutes after Inter Miami had been reduced to 10 men 12.

Messi had pulled Miami level in the 33rd minute. Columbus led from the 28th, when Josef Martínez converted a penalty that the referee gave after a VAR review, and Messi answered it with a left-footed free kick from about 29 yards that went in high at the far post 23. Santiago Morales, sent on in the 86th minute, collected a second yellow card in stoppage time and was off; Thiaré, on since the 83rd, then finished the game 13. The announced attendance was 21,188 1.

Messi's goal was the 76th free kick of his career, the second-highest total in the game's history and two short of the record 4. Marcelinho Carioca, the Brazilian midfielder, holds that record with 78. Behind Messi on the same list are Jair Rosa Pinto on 74, Roberto Dinamite on 73 and Juninho Pernambucano on 72 4.

It took Messi to 21 league goals this season. He went into the match leading MLS in both scoring columns, on 20 goals and 13 assists, 33 goal contributions in all 5. He is the reigning Landon Donovan MLS MVP, and with the regular season running to Nov. 7 there is still time for the free-kick record to fall before he stops playing for Argentina 56.

A defeat adds nothing, so Inter Miami stay third in the Eastern Conference on 46 points from 27 matches, behind Nashville SC and the New England Revolution 7. It is a fifth league match in a row without a win: four draws, and now this 2.

The club's next match is at home to D.C. United on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 7:30 p.m. ET — Sunday, Oct. 11 at 07:30 in Shanghai — the first of the six games left in its regular season 68.

Messi now joins Argentina, and only for one match. He is in the squad for the friendly against Benin at the Estadio Monumental on Oct. 6, the farewell appearance that ends his international career, and not for the two matches before it; the rest of Lionel Scaloni's squad has been training at Ezeiza without him 910.

Argentina open the window against Bolivia in Córdoba on Sept. 30 and host Burkina Faso at the Monumental on Oct. 3, both without Messi 9.

Kickoff times for the three friendlies had still not been officially confirmed, and ESPN's fixture list carries no time for the Córdoba opener or the Benin farewell 911. Inter Miami's next match kicks off at 19:30 ET on Oct. 10, 07:30 on Oct. 11 in Shanghai 6.