Benjamin Cremaschi scored on a diving header in the 30th minute and Inter Miami beat the Columbus Crew 1-0 on Saturday.

The matchup drew 60,614 fans to Huntington Bank Field, a single-game record for a Crew home game and the largest non-NFL event in stadium history.

The match was moved from Columbus to the home of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns due to the popularity of Inter Miami superstar Lionel Messi.

It is the second time this season and ninth since Messi joined MLS in 2023 that Inter Miami has had a road crowd of at least 60,000.

“He’s the greatest player to play the sport. That’s why he attracts so many people to watch him,” Cremaschi said. “We’re playing away but sometimes we feel at home. I think everything goes away in the moment and we focus on our goal.”

Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson, center Tristan Thompson and Browns wide receiver Jerry Jeudy were among the crowd.

Inter Miami improved to 5-0-3 while Columbus dropped to 5-1-3.

Oscar Ustari made three diving saves in the second half to keep the shutout intact.

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

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Miami took the lead in the 30th minute when Miami midfielder Marcelo Weigandt sent a crossing pass into the center of the box. Columbus defender Malte Amundsen was step for step with Cremaschi, but the 20-year-old midfielder was able to get to it in time and put it past goalkeeper Patrick Schulte for his first goal of the season.

Cremaschi scored in front of Cleveland’s Dawg Pound section, which was filled with Crew supporters.

“It was the only way to get to the ball,” Cremaschi said of diving for the header.

The goal was also the first in 277 minutes scored by a Miami player other than Messi.

Messi had a chance to make it 2-0 during stoppage time in the first half, but was just wide to the left of the net with a blast from the top of the box.

The 37-year-old appeared to be moving gingerly toward the end of the game, but Miami coach Javier Mascherano said afterward he was not aware of any issue.

Fellow forward Luis Suárez was replaced by Telasco Segovia midway through the second half, with Mascherano acknowledging he had one eye on Thursday’s Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal first leg at the Vancouver Whitecaps.

“We decided to sub out Luis because I thought we needed to refresh,” Mashcerano said in his postgame news conference. “Luis has been playing many minutes, and we wanted to have the ball more so we decided to involve Telasco Segovia and leave Messi loose.

“The idea was to do what we had to at that moment but also thinking about the fact that we have a game on Thursday.”

Information from The Associated Press and ESPN’s Lizzy Becherano was used in this report.