Messi stars with 2 goals before record Revs crowd

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami continued their imperious form in MLS, as the Argentine superstar scored twice in his team's 4-1 win over the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Saturday.

Messi netted coolly from close range in the 32nd and 67th minutes as Miami overcame the loss of a 1st minute goal to cruise to victory in front of a record home crowd for New England of 65,612. The Revolution's previous highest attendance was the 61,316 that watched the team take on the LA Galaxy in the 2022 MLS Cup final.

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Messi now has a league-leading nine goals this season, in just seven MLS games. Along with the goals, Messi also provided his seventh assist of the year, setting up former Barcelona teammate Luis Suárez for Miami's fourth goal in the 88th minute.

Suárez's delightful pinpoint finish came five minutes after fellow substitute Benjamin Cremaschi had scored Miami's third. The young United States international followed up up after a point-blank save denied Messi his hat trick.

With the win, Miami has 21 points from 11 games and continues to sit atop both the Eastern Conference and Supporters' Shield standings.

New England, meanwhile, stays rooted to the foot of the Eastern Conference, with just one win and four points from its nine games. 

The Revolution had made it 1-0 after 37 seconds when Tomás Chancalay ran onto a ball over the top of the Miami defense and dropped a shot over goalkeeper Drake Callender, who was charging out.

Messi tied the game 1-1 in the 32nd minute, taking a through ball from Robert Taylor and putting a left-footed strike in past keeper Henrich Ravas.

Then, in the 68th minute, the Argentine gave Miami a 2-1 lead, picking up a Sergio Busquets through ball and striking a left-footed shot.

With the two goals, Messi became the first player in MLS history to have five straight games with multiple goal contributions. With nine goals, Messi is one goal up on Cristian Arango for the MLS league lead.

Information from Field Level Media contributed to this report.