During the regular season, Atlanta United ended 34 points behind Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, which had a lot of great players.

Now, the Five Stripes have a chance to surprise everyone by beating the best team in Major League Soccer.

After Messi’s goal was called off for offside, Xande Silva scored with about a minute left in extra time to give ninth-seeded United a 2-1 win over Miami on Saturday night. The best-of-three MLS playoff series is now tied at one game each.

“Every week, people have called us the underdogs,” Derrick Williams, who scored Atlanta’s first goal, said. “We´re in fight-or-flight mode, and we´re definitely fighting.”

United beat Montreal on penalties in the wild card round just to have a chance at the Supporters’ Shield winner, which set an MLS regular-season record with 74 points.

United only had 40 points at the end of the season, which was the fewest of any playoff team. They didn’t even earn their spot until the very last day of the regular season.

All of that didn’t matter when, in the 94th minute, Silva hit a right-footed shot into the top left corner and past Drake Callender.

To celebrate, the Atlanta player took off his shirt and danced in front of the fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where 68,455 people were said to be cheering.

After coming off the bench in the 89th minute, Silva said, “I saw space there and then, boom!”

Messi had a lot of good chances to score, but the only time he did, the flag was raised for offside. For Silva’s game-winning goal, Atlanta United ran the other way.

“I was thinking, `Please be offsides,´” Williams said with a laugh. “He didn´t time his run right.”

United came back from being down 1-0 at halftime because of a big mistake by goalkeeper Brad Guzan to force a decisive game next Saturday night in South Florida.

“The truth is that we came to win,” Tomás Avilés, a defender for Miami, said after being translated. “But now there is the possibility of playing one more game, so we are very calm that it will be decided at home.”

Tata Martino, the coach of Miami, led Atlanta United to the MLS Cup title in 2018. He complained that his present team doesn’t have enough finishing touch.

He said, “We did a lot to deserve to win the game.” “We’re weren’t sharp in front of the goal and Atlanta, with fewer chances, fewer approaches and less control of the game, ended up taking it in the end.”

In the 58th minute, Williams tied the game after the Herons blocked a corner kick. From far away, Pedro Amador sent a cross back into the box. Williams dove to get a head on it and skipped it past Callender.

Messi missed at least three shots, with a couple going wide and then a huge one going over the goal in the 83rd minute when Miami was trying to score the extra goal to win the game. As he walked away, he rubbed his beard, clearly mad at himself for being wrong.

Williams said, “Keeping him quiet is huge.” “He´s the best player to ever play.”

Because Guzan made a mistake, Miami scored the first goal in the 40th minute.

After easily stopping a cross into the box, Guzan tried to kick the ball away but tripped and lost control while Federico Redondo of Miami ran next to him. Redondo gave the free kick to David Martínez, who easily flicked it over four United players and into an open goal while Guzan stood there and did nothing.

The goalkeeper, who is 40 years old, said Redondo touched him, but the video showed Guzan tripping himself.

United had a great chance to take the lead in the 89th minute, but Saba Lobjanidze’s rocket shot hit the goal. Bartosz Slisz caught the rebound and shot it over the net.