Lionel Messi continues to produce magic in Major League Soccer. The Argentine legend scored and provided an assist to guide Inter Miami to a 2–1 away victory over the New England Revolution on Monday night, securing the Herons a spot in the 2027 CONCACAF Champions Cup. The hard-fought win also lifted Miami to second place in the Eastern Conference with one match remaining in the MLS regular season.
While the hosts looked more dangerous throughout the opening half, the sides went into halftime scoreless. Early in the second half, Daniel Gazdag put New England ahead after linking up with Ilay Feingold, who set up the opener with a brilliant backheel assist.
Miami responded in the 69th minute when Messi flipped a backward header into the path of German Berterame, who restored parity. Shortly after, the Argentine maestro took control of the match, dancing past defenders before slotting a low, left-footed strike past goalkeeper Matt Turner to complete the turn-around.
New England believed they had salvaged a late equalizer via an Ian Fray own goal, but the effort was disallowed for offside, sealing the full three points for Miami.
Following the final whistle, coach Cristian Gonzalez lavished praise on the star performance: "I have no doubt he is the best of all. No one compares to him in terms of the respect he shows his teammates. At his age, and with what he is doing, he deserves both the MVP award and the Ballon d'Or. I hope he gets them."
Now sitting on 59 points from 33 matches, Miami will wrap up the regular season against Charlotte as they look to secure optimum positioning ahead of the playoffs.