Inter Miami defeats New England 4-1 with two goals by Messi.
New England vs. Inter Miami
Lionel Messi led New England to victory Saturday night, performing in front of a larger crowd than the Patriots had at any game last season.
Messi became the MLS scoring leader with two goals and an assist to lead Inter Miami to a 4-1 win over the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium.
Messi, an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner and World Cup champion, helped the Revolution set a club attendance record with 65,612 fans, the second-most attended a soccer game at Robert Kraft Stadium, the Patriots’ hometown stadium.
What a night for these two in front of 65K in New England.
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 28, 2024
▪️ Messi: 2 goals, 2 assists
▪️ @LuisSuarez9: goal pic.twitter.com/7VMNl2BdM3
Messi waved to the crowd in the 86th minute, during an injury stoppage shortly before the game’s final quarter, and while heading to the locker room after a dominant performance.
“I thought they were able to score those two goals when we were feeling pretty good about defending, because we were limiting their effectiveness, and creating clear chances,” New England coach Caleb Porter said. “He’s Messi. He finds two goals out of nowhere, and it highlights the nuances of those moments for us.” Although New England’s Tomas Chancale scored less than 40 seconds into the match, Messi came to Inter Miami’s aid, as he has often done since joining the MLS club last July.
Messi tied the match before halftime by scoring from less than 10 feet from the net in the 32nd minute, and helped Inter Miami take a 2-1 lead by receiving a pass from Sergio Busquets inside the box in the 68th minute.
Messi scored two goals to move to nine goals in MLS games this season, surpassing Real Salt Lake star Chicho Arango, who scored his eighth goal earlier in the day.
Messi competed for a hat trick in the 83rd minute. Although his shot was deflected, midfielder Benjamin Kremaski cleared the rebound for his first goal of the season in his third match back from sports hernia surgery.
Messi scored in the 88th minute to give his close friend Luis He finished the match with an assist to Suárez, who entered in the 63rd minute and played on New England’s artificial turf despite a history of knee injuries in his career.
Messi’s assist made MLS history as he became the first player to score and assist in five consecutive games.
With the win, Inter Miami extended its lead in the MLS Eastern Conference to 21 points.
“People come to every stadium to see Leo, that’s true. But they want their team to win,” Inter Miami coach Tata Martino said. “We are motivated by the atmosphere we find.”
The match will go down in Gillett Stadium’s history books as the most-attended soccer match since Brazil defeated Mexico 3–1 during an international friendly on September 12, 2007 in front of 67,584 fans.
