Lionel Messi sets MLS record as Luis Suarez scores hat-trick in Inter Miami rout
Inter Miami absolutely swept away the New York Red Bulls on Saturday evening, exacting revenge on their 4-0 defeat in New Jersey in March, and Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez rolled back the years
Lionel Messi has become the first player in MLS history to record FIVE assists in a single match.
The World Cup winner was on fire against the New York Red Bulls as Inter Miami ran out 6-2 winners at the Chase Stadium in Florida on Saturday evening. It is some revenge for David Beckham’s soccer team after the Red Bulls demolished Miami 4-0 in New Jersey in March.
It looked like history might repeat itself when Dante Vanzeir opened the scoring for the visitors on the half hour mark, with the Red Bulls taking a 1-0 lead into halftime. But whatever Tata Martino said at the interval had the desired effect.
Matias Rojas levelled the score on minute 48 thanks to Messi, before the World Cup winner, thanks to link-up play with Suarez, then got one for himself to take the lead. From there, the floodgates opened.
READ MORE: Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney unveil masterplan to lure Taylor Swift to Wrexham
READ MORE: Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez have already equalled record set by David Beckham and Landon Donovan
Rojas got a second, again thanks to Messi, before Suarez netted a hat-trick. And the same man got the assists for all those goals too. It meant Messi walked away from the fixture with five assists, a feat that has never been achieved before in Major League Soccer.
The Red Bulls did score a consolation goal through an Emil Forsberg penalty in the 97th minute but it did little undo the damage caused by Messi, Suarez and Rojas. The win keeps Miami at the top of the league, three points ahead of FC Cincinnati who have a game in hand.
Messi has now scored 10 goals and produced 12 assists in just eight MLS games this season. After a rocky star to the campaign with injury, there is no doubting the Argentinian is back to his best.
Speaking after the game, coach Martino was almost at a loss for words to sum up his star forward. “Well, I always say the same thing, it is redundant to talk about him because he always seems to do something new,” he said. “And well, if something was missing, it was this. To have an impact on the six goals a team scores, this is going to be difficult to see again.”
Reflecting on his team’s achievements, he added: “All of them had a phenomenal impact in the match. But well, Leo has probably done something historic, which is five assists, one goal in the league.
“I can’t forget Luis’ three goals, Matías’ two goals. The first one by Matias was good, both were great,” Martino said when asked about his favorite score from the match. For the technical gesture and Leo’s pass, I’ll take Luis’ scissors kick (in the 68th minute). That’s the one for me.”
