Lionel Messi scores two goals, Inter Miami stays atop MLS with 3-1 win over Nashville
Lionel Messi, cheered on by a record home crowd, came to the rescue for Inter Miami with two goals and an assist in a 3-1 win over Nashville SC.
The Argentine captain has seven goals and six assists over the six MLS games he has played this season. He missed four games with a hamstring strain but has returned to full fitness.
Inter Miami coach Tata Martino said the team was determined to rack up as many points as possible in the MLS standings over the next month before the Copa America pulls players away in June and July, including Messi, who plans to play for defending champion Argentina.
With the win Saturday, Miami remained in first place in the Eastern Conference with 18 points on five wins, two losses and three ties.
The weather was perfect at Chase Stadium Saturday, 81 degrees and clear skies at kickoff. But the game started with a costly miscue for Inter Miami as Nashville took a 1-0 lead in the second minute on an own goal by Miami left back Franco Negri, who was filling in for the injured Jordi Alba.
A Nashville corner kick from the right side sailed into a scrum in front of the goal, and Negri inadvertently knocked the ball over Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender into the net. The crowd, which had been buzzing from the moment Messi went out of warmups, was silenced.
But then Messi did what Messi does. He scored the equalizer in the 11th minute to get Miami and the record home crowd of 21,398 back into the game. Messi took a shot, it was saved by Nashville keeper Elliot Panicco, bounced toward Luis Suarez, who slipped the ball back to Messi, who scored on his second attempt with a perfect sliding finish.
“That goal was crucial because those were 10 minutes where things were going badly, we couldn’t find the ball, Nashville was pressuring us, and the first chance we got we got the goal,” Martino said. “That was critical not only because it tied the score, but we also discovered that we found a spot in the midfield from which we could create more chances.”
Defender Tomas Aviles added: “We know who we have in front of us and we know we can count on them at any moment, in any circumstance, to get us out of difficult situations, like Leo did with that goal. Thank goodness we have him.”
The stadium fell into a hush again late in the first half when midfielder Diego Gomez, having a breakout season, fell to the ground and writhed in pain after Panicco stepped on Gomez’s foot, rolling his ankle. Miami was reduced to 10 men as the medical team attended to Gomez behind the Nashville goal. He was in tears as he was carted off the field on a stretcher.
Martino said after the game that Gomez was in considerable pain, his ankle was swollen and he was headed to have X-rays to determine the severity of the injury. Gomez, who plays for Paraguay’s national team, was looking forward to playing in the Olympics and maybe Copa America.
While down a man, Messi worked his magic again, curling a corner kick to his former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets, who leaped and sent a glancing header into the net for the game-clinching goal. It was Busquets’ first goal since joining Inter Miami last summer and his first since 2022, when he was with Barcelona.
Busquets celebrated by putting the ball under his shirt at his belly, a tribute to his wife, who is pregnant with their third child.
“It is our third, so I am very happy for them,” Busquets said of his family. “We knew for a while we wanted to grow our family, we announced it this week, so it all came full circle. I am happy I could help the team with the goal. I am not accustomed to scoring, but I am happy I could do it and we got three important points.”
Nashville had a chance to tie it up, but Callender made a huge save on a long-range shot from Hany Mukhtar.
Messi scored the insurance goal for Miami with a penalty kick in the 81st minute after Leo Afonso was taken down inside the edge of the box.
Miami and Nashville were playing each other for the third time in six weeks.
Since Messi arrived in South Florida last July, Inter Miami is unbeaten in five games against Nashville, including the Leagues Cup final that Miami won in a dramatic 10-round penalty kick shootout. Three of the games ended tied in regulation. Messi scored in all five matchups, including a 3-1 Miami victory on Mar. 13 that eliminated Nashville from the Champions Cup in the Round of 16.
Miami has scored 22 goals, more than any team in the league.
Nashville is off to its worst start since 2020, stuck in 14th place with just one win and seven points. Injuries to key players Walker Zimmerman, Shaq Moore, Tyler Boyd and Randall Leal have been a big factor.
Miami’s injury list has also been long this season, with eight players ruled out Saturday (Alba, Leo Campana, Robert Taylor, Sergiy Kryvtsov, Facundo Farias, Fede Redondo, Robbie Robinson, Ian Fray) and Gomez likely missing some time after Saturday’s injury.
Busquets said he is concerned about Gomez.
“Diego is having a great season, he’s a very important player for us for all he brings, and more than that, it seems like every game we lose a player,” Busquets said. “When we have our full squad we will be very strong team with a lot of resources. But for now they are stones in the road for us. Hopefully, they can all recuperate soon and get back as soon as possible.”
The team is expected to get some help next week with the signing of Matias Rojas, a 28-year-old Paraguayan attacking midfielder who became a free agent after leaving Brazilian club Corinthians due to a contract dispute. The deal with Miami has been in the works since early March, and is finally expected to be announced in the coming days.
When a reporter told Martino that Rojas had been seen at Chase Stadium Saturday night, Martino smiled and replied: “I can’t talk about players we don’t have. Maybe wait a few more days and then we can talk.”
