Lionel Messi made more MLS history Wednesday evening as Inter Miami defeated the New England Revolution 2-1 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Argentine scored both goals as the Herons took all three points on the road, winning their fourth-straight regular-season match while stretching their MLS unbeaten streak to five matches.
It was a record-setting evening for multiple reasons, including Messi becoming the first player in MLS history to ever score multiple goals in four matches in a row. For New England, it was their highest-attended home match of the season at 43,293. Last season, the Revs saw 65,612 attend their match against Messi and Miami - the largest turnout in franchise history.
As for the match itself, Messi opened the scoring 27 minutes into the game after Revs' defender Tanner Beason attempted to head the ball back towards his goalkeeper, Aljaz Ivacic, only to see it intercepted by the Argentine and tucked home into the back of the net for his first of the evening. He then doubled Miami's lead 11 minutes later, tucking home a delightful through ball from Sergio Busquets, slotting home into the bottom right corner of the net underneath the diving body of Ivacic.
The Revolution had multiple chances to get themselves back into the match, but they lacked a clinical finish until the closing stages of the game. With 10 minutes to spare, club stalwart Carles Gil fired home from distance with a blistering effort after dribbling past Tomas Aviles, cutting the deficit in half. However, it was too little, too late for the Northeastern club as their attacking momentum arrived in the closing stages of the game, and they were never able to find an equalizer.
Miami, upon return from the FIFA Club World Cup, has now won two straight while outscoring their opposition six to two. With Wednesday's victory, the South Beach club moved up to 35 points on the campaign through 18 matches played, putting them fifth in the Eastern Conference standings. They trail first-place FC Cincinnati by seven points, but have three games in hand.
GOAL US rates Inter Miami's players from Gillette Stadium...
