Lionel Messi is settling in nicely with Inter Miami CF. Messi scored a first-half brace in 22 minutes against Atlanta United in his MLS regular season debut on Tuesday. Inter Miami triumphed 4-0.
Messi has already scored three goals in two games for Inter Miami, the first as a substitute in the League Cup. On Tuesday, Messi began and donned the captain’s armband for Inter Miami.
Messi’s first goal was set up by a well-timed lobbed through ball from Sergio Busquets, a former FC Barcelona teammate. Messi didn’t connect on his initial try, hitting the right post, but he gathered the rebound in the eighth minute to open his MLS account and give Inter Miami the lead.
Messi’s second goal came in the 22nd minute, just over 10 minutes later. Messi made a move toward the area after passing the ball out wide to his new partner Robert Taylor. Josef Martinez, the top striker for Inter Miami, pulled the defence towards the goal, giving Messi plenty of space to steal the ball back from Taylor and score.
According to Opta Sports, Messi has now scored against 100 different opponents in his senior career.
Taylor scored just before halftime to make it 3-0, giving Inter Miami its first 3-0 halftime lead in club history, according to Opta Sports. Taylor scored again in the 53rd minute.
Inter Miami finished last in the MLS Eastern Conference with a record of 5W-3D-14L entering Tuesday’s game.
Credit: foxsports.com
