Atlanta surprises Inter Miami late and forces decisive Game 3

Xande Silva scored with about a minute left in stoppage time, shortly after a Lionel Messi goal was disallowed for a clear offside, to give ninth-seeded Atlanta United a 2-1 win over Inter Miami on Saturday night, leveling the score Best of three MLS first round playoff series with one game each.

In the 94th minute, Silva fired a right-footed shot into the top left corner, beating goalkeeper Drake Callender. The Atlanta player celebrated by taking off his jersey and dancing in front of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium fan area as the announced crowd of 68,455 cheered.

Messi had many good chances to score, but only scored when the flag was raised for offside. Atlanta United went the other way and scored Silva's winner.

United recovered from a 1-0 halftime deficit caused by a big mistake by goalkeeper Brad Guzan to force a decider in South Florida next Saturday. Atlanta has a chance to pull off a major upset after finishing a whopping 34 points behind Messi's star squad that won the MLS Supporters' Shield and broke the all-time points record.

Derrick Williams tied the game in the 58th minute after the Herons saved a corner. Pedro Amador sent a long-range cross back into the box and Williams dived to head the ball past Callender.

Guzan's mistake gave Miami the lead in the 40th minute.

After effortlessly firing a cross into the box, Guzan looked to throw the ball away – only to stumble and lose control with Miami's Federico Redondo running alongside him. Redondo sent the loose ball to David Martínez, who easily fired it past four United defenders and into the unguarded goal as Guzan watched helplessly.

The 40-year-old goalkeeper claimed he was obstructed by Redondo, but replay clearly showed Guzan tripped himself up.

Messi failed on at least three shots, missing a few times before firing one over the net in the 83rd minute as Miami pressed for the go-ahead goal. He walked away and rubbed his beard, clearly frustrated at his lack of accuracy.

In the 89th minute, United missed the chance to take the lead when Saba Lobjanidze fired a strike onto the crossbar. Bartosz Slisz caught the rebound but shot it over the net.

Silva made sure it didn't matter.

Miami won the opening game of the series at home 2-1.

The winner of Game 3 advances to the conference semifinals and will face the team emerging from the Orlando-Charlotte series. These teams are also tied 1-1.

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.