Lionel Messi scored two goals and assisted on another by Jordi Alba to lead Inter Miami to a 4-0 victory over Atlanta United on Saturday night in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Messi, who sat out his home nation Argentina’s friendly against Venezuela that was held in Miami one night earlier, started and helped Inter Miami (18-7-8, 62 points) guarantee itself at least the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference with the victory.
Inter Miami still has a chance to secure the No. 2 seed if it can finish with more points than FC Cincinnati, which also has 62 points. If the teams finish with the same number of points, Cincinnati would clinch the higher seed by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Atlanta United (5-16-12, 27 points), which eliminated Inter Miami from the MLS playoffs in the first round last season, lost its third match in a row and is winless in its past five.
Both teams were short-handed players due to the FIFA international window this week. But Messi, who chose to play for club over country this weekend, now leads the MLS in goals with 26, and his 18th assist tied San Diego’s Anders Dreyer for the league lead.
Messi’s first goal came in the 39th minute when Messi controlled a crossing pass from Baltasar Rodriguez and curled in a shot to the far top corner to break a scoreless stalemate. His second goal capped the scoring in the 87th minute off an assist from Alba.
In the 52nd minute, Messi created the chance that led to Miami’s second score when he looped a long ball across the field to Alba as he surged toward Atlanta’s goal. Alba did the rest, lobbing the ball over Atlanta keeper Jayden Hibbert.
Luis Suarez added to the tally in the 61st minute when he timed a shot perfectly off a high clearance attempt by Atlanta into the back of the net, looping it past Hibbert. Inter Miami’s Rocco Rios Novo started in goal and recorded the clean sheet.
Atlanta United, which has been riddled with injuries to key players this season, had to deal with another when, in the 14th minute, Stian Gregersen was forced to leave the game with what appeared to be a potential hamstring issue.
REUTERS
