Lionel Messi, aged 37, led Inter Miami to a very much needed win scoring two goals and providing an assist in the game against CF Montréal. With this latest exciting performance of his, he has become the first player ever at the club to reach 50 regular-season goal contributions.
Starting off with 29 goals and 21 assists, Messi has racked up a total of 50 regular-season goal contributions in the 21 months since he came to the USA. At that time, he had completed only 11 out of those 50 due to frequent injuries, one of which had happened early in the season he joined the club. His brilliant display in the Montréal game earned him the Man of the Match award which was not only the first time he got it but also it marked his strength as one of the Icons of the team.
Messi’s effect after the arrival of Javier Mascherano, the new head coach, has been tremendous. The Argentine is the top scorer and he is also the third-ranked in assists with three. Back in 2023, before he scored 29 goals and provided 21 assists, Lionel was the fastest athlete to have reached 40 goal contributions in the MLS history.
On Saturday, the seasoned player increased his career goal count to a massive 863 out of which 47 were due to the support of the team at Inter Miami.
Having been the chief protagonist in individual terms, Inter Miami has remained irregular this season, recording just two victories in the last 9 matches. As of now, Miami lies sixth in the Eastern Conference, and thus needs to recover its form soon for being promoted to the Club World Cup held by FIFA and demanding the push for the MLS Cup.