Lionel Messi scores again as Miami takes 3-0 halftime lead over Philadelphia Union

Lionel Messi’s remarkable run with Inter Miami in the Leagues Cup continued on Tuesday night.

Messi, after Josef Martínez kicked things off with a goal in the third minute of their Leagues Cup semifinal match against the Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park, picked up his ninth goal in just six games with the club.

Messi, after Martínez was tackled passing the ball over to him near midfield, drove forward and launched a shot through three Union defenders and scored. The goal pushed Miami’s lead to 2-0 not even 20 minutes into the contest.

Miami struck first almost instantly. In just the third minute, Sergii Kryvtsov snuck a deep through ball up the right side of the field to Martínez, who then fired across to the left side post and in for the opening goal.

Miami picked up a third goal just before halftime, too, after Jordi Alba broke free up the left side of the field with nobody around in the 47th minute. Alba flew past the Union and was home free for the goal, which gave Miami the 3-0 lead and led to a very loud chorus of boos from Union fans at Subaru Park.

The Union had allowed just four goals in five Leagues Cup matches before Tuesday night’s contest.

“We set ourselves up for failure by making a big mistake in the third minute and we’re chasing the game from there,” Union coach Jim Curtain said at halftime.

Messi has absolutely dominated since his arrival in South Florida, and he quickly turned Miami into the +160 favorite to win the Leagues Cup on BetMGM despite their last-place position in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference. Miami has won five straight matches — which matched its MLS win total so far this season — and Messi had scored eight goals already before Tuesday night. He scored once in Miami’s 4-0 win over Charlotte FC in the quarterfinals Friday. As a club, Miami has scored now 20 times in the Leagues Cup, just shy of their 22 goals scored in MLS play.

Tuesday’s game marks Messi’s second road trip with the club. The Union have lost just one home game at Subaru Park in the last two seasons. The Union beat Querétaro 2-0 in their quarterfinal match Friday, which came after back-to-back penalty shootout wins. The winner of Friday’s match will advance to the finals, where either CF Monterrey or Nashville SC will be waiting for them. Should Miami make it into the championship, it will be the club’s first final in any competition.

The Inter Miami-Philadelphia Union match is set to start at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday night. The other semifinal match will start at 9:30 p.m. ET in Nashville.

Keep up with Messi and the Miami-Philadelphia action here with Yahoo Sports: