CF Montreal 1-4 Inter Miami: Messi at the double in emphatic win

Lionel Messi scored twice as Inter Miami cruised to a 4-1 victory over CF Montreal to mark their MLS return in style.

Miami's Club World Cup campaign came to an end as they were thrashed 4-0 by Paris Saint-Germain last week, but the Herons bounced back in emphatic fashion on Saturday.

Prince Owusu's early goal put Montreal ahead at Stade Saputo, but the Eastern Conference's bottom side were put in their place.

Having set up Tadeo Allende's 33rd-minute equaliser, Messi sent a precise finish beyond Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois to put Miami ahead before the break.

Telasco Segovia's stunner gave Miami further insurance, before Messi doubled his tally at the end of a trademark, mazy run that left several defenders in his wake.

Allende saw a fine effort tipped onto the crossbar before Messi had a goal disallowed for offside late on, as Miami got their domestic campaign back up and running with the minimum of fuss.

Data Debrief: Free-scoring Miami back in MLS business

Four different Miami players scored a goal in the Club World Cup with Allende, Messi, Segovia and Luis Suarez finding the net. Only three players scored for the two other MLS teams combined in the tournament.  

All four of those players were involved in Miami's goals on their MLS return, too. Messi grabbed an assist to go with his double, while Suarez set up both of the Argentine's goals, and Allende assisted Segovia.

Miami, who sit sixth in the East, have now scored at least three goals in seven of their last nine league matches, after doing so once in their first eight MLS matches of 2025. They had 15 shots, getting a whopping 10 of those on target and registering 2.86 expected goals to Montreal's 2.12.