After two months of absence due to injury, Messi made an impressive comeback when he contributed 2 goals and 1 assist to help Inter Miami win in round 28 of the US Major League Soccer (MLS).
Although Messi has just returned from injury, he was arranged by coach Tata Martino to start the match against Philadelphia Union in round 28 of MLS. The Argentine superstar played alongside Luis Suarez and Diego Gomez in the attack of Inter Miami.
Messi took a long time to get into the rhythm of the game. Inter Miami also had to adapt to having El Pulga in the team. Therefore, the Florida team did not start well.
In the second minute, Inter Miami conceded a goal. Mikkel Uhre was the one who opened the score for Philadelphia Union with an extremely dangerous shot from outside the penalty area.
Inter Miami did not play well in the first 25 minutes. However, everything changed when Messi found his instincts again. In the 26th minute, after receiving a pass from Luis Suarez, Messi dribbled past a Philadelphia Union player, before finishing to level the score at 1-1.
Not stopping there, in the 30th minute, Messi scored his second goal. From the left wing, Jordi Alba made a pass and Messi had a very quick kick, helping Inter Miami take the lead 2-1.
At the end of the first half, Messi also made an assist for Luis Suarez to score against Philadelphia Union. However, after consulting VAR, the referee denied Inter Miami’s goal. He determined that Messi was offside before making the pass.
In the second half, Messi was kept on the field by coach Tata Martino until the end of the match. The Argentine player repaid the Argentine coach’s trust when he made an assist for Luis Suarez to seal the victory in the 8th minute of injury time in the second half, sealing a 3-1 victory for Inter Miami.
The win cemented Inter Miami’s place atop the Eastern Conference standings with 62 points from 28 games, 10 points ahead of second-place Cincinnati. With this lead, Inter Miami is all but certain to win the Eastern Conference title and the Supporters’ Shield (awarded to the top team in the points-scoring phase). Inter Miami will then advance to the MLS playoffs.
