FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Inter Miami overcame the loss of Lionel Messi, the ejection of Maxi Falcon and sweltering heat to beat Mexican club Necaxa in penalty kicks in a dramatic Leagues Cup game at Chase Stadium on Saturday night.

Jordi Alba, standing only 5-7, leaped and scored the equalizer on a header for Miami in added time off a free kick from Rodrigo De Paul, who was starting his second game since joining the team last week.

The game ended 2-2 in regulation, and then goalkeeper Rocco Rios-Novo made a massive save in the penalty kick shootout and Luis Suarez converted the final PK to clinch the win. De Paul, Benja Cremaschi, Alba, and Fede Redondo also made their penalty kicks.

Messi left the field with an apparent right upper thigh injury after falling while being challenged by defenders Raul Sanchez and Alexi Pena at the 11-minute mark. He stumbled onto the ground, got up, tried to walk it off, but then sat down and sought medical attention.

The crowd went silent as the dejected Argentine star was treated by the team’s medical staff before taking off his captain’s armband and trudging to the tunnel. Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said Messi felt discomfort in his leg, will be evaluated on Sunday, and he hopes it is not a serious injury.

Falcon was ejected with a red card six minutes later after slightly tugging on the shirt of Diber Cambindo as he raced toward the edge of the box. Falcon, his teammates, the Miami bench and the home crowd protested the call, but it stood.

Mascherano did not mince words after the game, harshly criticizing the officials for slapping Falcon with a red card without a video review. He added that it was wrong that the head referee, Daniel Quintero Huitron, is from Mexico because Necaxa is a Mexican club. Alba also said in his post-game interview that the referee should not be of the same nationality as either team playing in a match.

“My feeling after this game is totally bitter,” Mascherano said. “We had the game in control, we had taken a lead despite Leo’s injury, and then a foul that was not a foul, ruining a game, possibly ruining our chance of advancing [in the tournament] and you end up dumbfounded. At the very least go to VAR to justify it.

“I don’t like to speak too much about this, but I am not going to let them step on our head. ... Never in my career as a player and my short time as a coach have I participated in a game where the referee is from the country of one of the teams playing. That is wrong. I am not saying the call was because of his nationality, but I find it very strange that they did not go to VAR on an expulsion that changed the game. It would have taken 30 seconds, maybe one minute. If they are going to have a serious competition, that needs to change.”

Messi was replaced by Redondo. Falcon’s exit left Miami with 10 men for the remainder of the game.

In between the two setbacks, Inter Miami took a 1-0 lead with a brilliant goal by Telasco Segovia with an assist from De Paul, who had a strong game on both ends of the field.

Holding a lead and down a man, Mascherano took a defensive stance and replaced Tadeo Allende with Gonzalo Lujan in the 29th minute.

But Necaxa tied it up four minutes later with a left-footed shot by Tomas Badaloni, who got past Noah Allen, starting his first game since injuring his hamstring in the Club World Cup Round of 16 game against Paris Saint-Germain on June 29.

Then, at the 60-minute mark, Necaxa defender Cristian Calderon was sent off with a second yellow card, evening the field at 10 versus 10. Six minutes later, Mascherano made three substitutions for Miami: Sergio Busquets, Allen and Segovia were replaced by Toto Aviles, Yannick Bright and Cremaschi.

Ricardo Monreal scored in the 81st minute to give Necaxa a 2-1 lead.

“I was pleased with how our team responded [to Messi’s injury and Falcon’s expulsion],” Mascherano said. “We played 40 minutes a man down, and we felt it. But our players fought until the end, with a lot of heart and that is a positive that I take, that our team hates to lose and fights until the end.”

Both teams were coming off dramatic wins in their opening Leagues Cup games. Inter Miami defeated Atlas, 2-1, on a Chelo Weigandt goal in added time and Necaxa won, 3-1, against Atlanta United with a pair of goals by Badaloni in the final 12 minutes.

Despite the victories, both teams were desperate to score goals and win again on Saturday because of the new Leagues Cup format. Rather than the traditional group stage format, where a group winner is guaranteed to advance, this tournament divided the field by league, and the top four teams in each league’s table after three games qualifies for the knockout round.

In other words, a team could win all three of its group games and be eliminated based on goal differential against the other teams in its league.

Heading into Saturday’s game, Miami was in sixth place among MLS teams with a plus-1 goal differential, behind Seattle (plus-7), Portland (plus-4), LA Galaxy (plus-3), Minnesota (plus-3), and Cincinnati (plus-1). By winning in penalties, Inter Miami earned two points in the standings heading into its third group game Wednesday at home against Pumas.

Mascherano went with the same starting lineup as he used in the first Cup game, with one exception. Allen started in place of Lujan.

The rest of the starters were: Messi, Busquets, Segovia, Suarez, Alba, Allende, Falcon, Weigandt and Rios-Novo, who took over the starting role in place of injured Oscar Ustari.

Defender Ian Fray returned to the active roster after recovering from an adductor injury. He was on the bench along with Lujan, Aviles, Baltasar Rodriguez, Fafa Picault, Will Yarbrough, Cremaschi, David Ruiz, Bright, Redondo and Santi Morales.

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