Lionel Messi continues his goal-scoring streak…
The 36-year-old Argentine soccer star maintained his record of scoring in every game for Inter Miami CF as his new team cruised into the Leagues Cup semifinals with a 4-0 win over Charlotte FC in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Friday.
Messi’s eighth goal in five games since his arrival came with just four minutes remaining and with Miami already three goals up for the perfect finale for the close to 22,000 in attendance at DRV PNK Stadium.
Miami will travel to face last year’s Eastern Conference champions Philadelphia Union on Tuesday as they seek to continue their remarkable turnaround since welcoming the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Josef Martínez scored Miami’s opening goal in the 12th minute. He took a penalty ahead of Messi for the second time in three games and once again found the net.
Miami’s second goal came just past the 30-minute mark. With Messi’s run into the penalty box taking the attention of multiple Charlotte defenders, U.S. international DeAndre Yedlin found the run of a wide open Robert Taylor to sweep home a low shot from the center of the area.
“When you have Messi, you know he just needs a chance. He just needs one second,” Charlotte coach Christian Lattanzio said. “You have to be very sharp to stop him from producing the magic he’s been producing since he went to Barcelona when he was 16.”
Perhaps no player has flourished more since Messi’s arrival than Taylor. After scoring five goals in 52 MLS appearances pre-Messi, the Finnish midfielder has four goals in five games with the Argentine great alongside him.
The impact on the team has been similar. Previously averaging just one goal per game as one of the lowest scorers in MLS, Miami has been scoring at a rate of more than three goals a game since the man with more than 800 career goals arrived.
After conceding four times in a wild round-of 16 victory at FC Dallas on Sunday, Miami’s defense also held its own at home.
With Messi’s former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets shielding Miami’s backline, Charlotte didn’t manage a shot on target until the 55th minute. And though the visitors posed more of an attacking threat after some half-time changes, Miami was rarely troubled.
At the other end, Messi kept pulling the strings. With 12 minutes left, he released Diego Gomez with an inch-perfect pass down the left, and the substitute’s cross was turned into his own net by Charlotte defender Adilson Malanda.
“It’s beautiful to play with each other again,” said Busquets, a former Messi teammate with Barcelona.
For those in attendance, including Argentina’s World Cup-winning coach Lionel Scaloni, the only thing missing was a Messi goal. Not one to disappoint, Messi duly delivered it after an assist from Leonardo Campana.
Messi passed Minnesota United FC‘s Bongokuhle Hlongwane for the lead in Leagues Cup goals; each entered Friday with seven in four matches. Minnesota was eliminated in a 5-0 loss at Nashville SC.
It was the second consecutive game and third time in four outings in which Miami scored four goals, part of the massive turnaround of team that is in last place in Major League Soccer‘s Eastern Conference.
Inter now is just two wins away from the first trophy in the team’s short history and a 44th in the legendary career of their new No. 10.
