In the Eastern Conference, Inter Miami remains hot on the heels of leader Nashville: On Saturday, the reigning MLS champions celebrated a spectacular 4-2 victory in Toronto—thanks in part to Messi shattering a record.
Meanwhile, Miami captain Messi is becoming ever more firmly entrenched in the history books of MLS. On Saturday, the reigning world champion delivered a stellar performance in Toronto with three direct goal contributions, shattering an existing record: Messi needed just 64 (!) MLS appearances to break the 100-point mark. The previous record was held by a certain Giovinco, who tallied 58 goals and 42 assists in 95 MLS matches.
The spectacular opener at BMO Field was the only goal in which Messi was only “indirectly” involved: He left a free kick from the right side to his teammate De Paul, who hit the wall with it—but then thundered the rebound with a volley off the left inside post, from where the ball bounced into the net (44′).
After the break, however, Messi really turned it on: De Paul first set up Messi, who played it on to Suarez—2–0 (56′). Shortly after, Gavran made a spectacular save on a Messi free kick (62′), but Messi “got his revenge” before the final quarter of an hour began. This time, Messi set up Reguilon’s 3-0 goal with a well-executed one-two; it was the Spaniard’s first MLS goal ever (73′).
Substitute Emilio scores a consolation goal
Two minutes later came Messi’s moment: The Argentine drove the ball from the midfield line across half the field, played a one-two with de Paul, and slotted it perfectly into the far corner (75th). It was his 59th MLS goal in his 64th appearance—he had previously provided assists 40 and 41.
Once Miami had shifted down a few gears, Toronto managed to score two consolation goals: Substitute Emilio, who had only come on in the 65th minute, netted a brace within eight minutes (82nd/90th) to make the final score of 2-4 a little more bearable.
With its sixth win in twelve games, Miami remains close behind Eastern Conference leader Nashville with 22 points; however, Nashville has already accumulated 23 points in just ten games.