Lionel Messi had a record night for Inter Miami CF.
He scored a goal and had five assists as Inter Miami beat the New York Red Bulls 6-2 on Saturday night – with the Argentine great and eight-time Ballon d’Or winner being the best player of the match with no fewer than three goals in Major League Soccer. saves in effort.
The six goal contributions and five assists in a match are MLS records.
Messi, who won the MLS Player of the Month award for April, has now scored and assisted in six consecutive league matches.
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Luis Suárez scored three goals and Matías Rojas scored twice as Inter Miami scored six unanswered goals to come back from a 1-0 halftime deficit. Messi and Suárez now each have 10 goals leading the championship, helping to keep Inter Miami (7-2-3, 24 points) at the top of the Eastern Conference.
This victory brought Miami’s unbeaten record to six. The streak began after a 4-0 defeat in New York on April 20, in which Messi did not play due to injury.
Miami began the rout with Rojas’ equalizer in the 48th minute. Messi centered a pass to Rojas whose left-footed shot landed under the crossbar.
Suárez then fed a charging Messi with a touch pass to beat New York goalkeeper Carlos Coronel with a shot from 15 yards.
Rojas made it 3-1 with his second goal in the 62nd minute thanks to an assist from Messi.
Messi then assisted in his former Barcelona teammate Suárez’s opening goal in the 69th minute.
Suárez also scored in the 75th and 81st minutes before the Red Bulls (4-2-5, 17 points) closed the score on a penalty from Emil Forsberg in stoppage time.
New York controlled possession early and eventually took advantage of a Miami defensive breakdown that resulted in Dante Vanzeir’s goal in the 30th minute. José Carmona went deep into the right wing of the big box and fired a shot that bounced off the far post. An unmarked Vanzeir collected the deflection and converted from 15 yards.
Messi had his only scoring opportunity of the first half in the 24th minute, when Coronel saved his shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Messi’s former Barcelona teammate Jordi Alba missed his third consecutive match with a hamstring injury.
The two clubs will continue to play in MLS next Saturday. Inter Miami will visit CF Montreal while the Red Bulls will host New England.
