New England Revolution 1-2 Inter Miami: Messi breaks MLS record with another brace
Inter Miami continued to build momentum in MLS after their Club World Cup campaign, with Lionel Messi once again at the heart of things.
Lionel Messi broke another MLS record after his brace helped Inter Miami to a 2-1 win over the New England Revolution.
The Argentine's double saw him become the first player in MLS history to score multiple goals in four consecutive matches as Miami moved up to fifth in the Eastern Conference.
Baltasar Rodriguez went close twice before Messi's opener in the 27th minute, where he capitalised on a loose header in the box from Tanner Beason with a first-time finish into the bottom-left corner.
Messi doubled Miami's lead seven minutes before the break. Another former Barcelona connection worked for the visitors as Sergio Busquets played Messi through on goal, and the forward swept the ball past Aljaz Ivacic.
Leonardo Campana, formerly of Miami, troubled the opposition goal on three occasions either side of half-time, while Luis Suarez saw his header cleared off the line by Peyton Miller.
Carles Gil helped the Revolution threaten a comeback after his effort from 20 yards out went beyond the reach of Oscar Ustari, but Miami held on for all three points.
Elsewhere, Los Angeles FC got back to winning ways with a 3-0 triumph over one of their Western Conference rivals, the Colorado Rapids.
Denis Bouanga scored from the spot before goals from Nathan Ordaz and Javairo Dilrosun followed on from a sixth-minute red card for Colorado's Jackson Travis.
Data Debrief: Messi's New England hunting ground
Messi started his run of braces against CF Montreal, and he continued it against the Columbus Crew and Montreal again before his double against New England.
It is not the first time Messi has found the net against New England, either.
He scored a brace and a hat-trick in his first two matches against New England. Messi has now scored multiple goals in three straight meetings with a team six times in his club career, with the other five all occurring in Spain.
The Revolution put up a good fight against a strong Miami side, even outperforming them 1.28 to 1.09 on expected goals (xG).
Gil's strike for New England means he has now been directly involved in six of their last seven goals (two goals, four assists), and 57.7% of their goals this season (15/26).
