Messi stars with 2 goals before record Revs crowd
Lionel Messi and Inter Miami continued their imperious form in MLS, as the Argentine superstar scored twice in his team’s 4-1 win over the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Saturday night.
Messi netted coolly from close range in the 32nd and 67th minutes as Miami overcame a first-minute Revs goal to cruise to victory in front of a record home crowd for New England of 65,612. The Revolution’s previous highest attendance was the 61,316 who watched the team take on the LA Galaxy in the 2002 MLS Cup final.
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Messi now has a league-leading nine goals this season in just seven MLS games. Along with the goals, Messi also provided his seventh assist of the year, setting up former Barcelona teammate Luis Suárez for Miami’s fourth goal in the 88th minute.
Suárez’s delightful pinpoint finish came five minutes after fellow substitute Benjamin Cremaschi had scored Miami’s third. The young United States international followed up after a point-blank save denied Messi a hat trick.
“People in every stadium come to see and support Leo Messi, but after they want their team to win,” Miami head coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino said at a news conference after the match. “We are motivated by the atmosphere each city provides, but we know it incentivizes the rivals, as well. And we try to prepare for that.
“The excitement each team and their fan base has of facing Inter Miami with the players that we have, we’ve handed it well. This was all a lesson last year.”
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With the win, Miami has 21 points from 11 games and continues to sit atop both the Eastern Conference and Supporters’ Shield standings.
New England, meanwhile, stays rooted to the foot of the Eastern Conference, with just one win and four points from its nine games. Its hopes of getting anything against the league leaders were dented before the game when flu spread through the squad, with New England head coach Caleb Porter saying five players were impacted.
Porter added that midfielder Matt Polster played 60 minutes despite being in the emergency room overnight.
Despite those problems, the Revolution had made it 1-0 after 37 seconds when Tomás Chancalay ran onto a ball over the top of the Miami defense and dropped a shot over goalkeeper Drake Callender, who was charging out.
Messi tied the game at 1 in the 32nd minute, taking a through ball from Robert Taylor and putting a left-footed strike in past keeper Henrich Ravas.
Then, in the 68th minute, the Argentine gave Miami a 2-1 lead, picking up a Sergio Busquets through ball and striking a left-footed shot.
“Good start, after the goal we had them locked up and they weren’t finding many chances,” Porter said.
“They were not finding much time and space to operate. But then Messi found a crack and did what he does. It was a great pass and obviously a great turn and finish. I still think that yes, he’s the best in the world at finding gaps and scoring goals, but our detail could’ve been better.”
With the two goals, Messi became the first player in MLS history to have five straight games with multiple goal contributions. With nine goals, Messi is one goal up on Cristian Arango for the MLS league lead.
Suárez, meanwhile, is just two behind on seven goals for the year. The Uruguayan striker only entered the game in the 64th minute, with Martino saying he wasn’t at 100% physically.
After its disappointing Concacaf Champions Cup exit at the hands of Monterrey, Miami has now won three straight MLS games, scoring 10 goals in the process.
“The key moment was the match against Sporting Kansas City,” Martino said. “Because we were coming in after facing elimination from Monterrey, and the team had to show character and they did it well.
“Now, we have three consecutive victories, two of them away. We are more solid every game. The rivals are reaching our box less and less, and meanwhile, we find ourselves top of the league as players return from injury.”
Information from ESPN’s Lizzy Becherano and Field Level Media contributed to this report.