Lionel Messi's thunderous late goal wasn't enough as Nashville SC scored a 2-1 home win over Inter Miami on Saturday to force a decisive Game 3 of their first-round MLS playoff series.

Messi had scored twice as Miami eased to a 3-1 win in Game 1 eight days ago but it was a different story for much of the 90 minutes in Nashville. First-half goals from Sam Surridge and Josh Bauer propelled the hosts to end a 10-match winless streak against the south Florida side dating back to Messi's arrival.

The teams will now meet again in a week's time back in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with a place in the Eastern Conference semifinals on the line.

Miami now has no margin for error as it looks to avoid a repeat of last year's playoff exit when it beat Atlanta United in Game 1 before dropping the next two games to crash out in Round 1.

Despite the arrival of Messi, together with fellow former Barcelona stars Luis Suárez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, Miami has yet to advance past the opening round of the playoffs in its MLS history.