Lionel Messi added another record to his list of career achievements as he scored a pair of goals to lead Inter Miami CF to a 2-1 win over the New England Revolution.
The brace at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Wednesday night made Messi the first player in MLS history to score multiple goals in four straight league games, all of which were wins.
The 38-year-old Argentine star capitalized on a mistake by the Revs' defense for his first goal of the night, then doubled Miami's lead before halftime with a brilliant finish from a perfectly placed Sergio Busquets through ball.
«Obviously Leo is a special player. For me is the best player that has played this sport in history,» Miami coach Javier Mascherano said after the game. «So it's unbelievable because how he continues doing things that maybe many, many years ago we thought that maybe we couldn't see at this stage, no?
»But in the end, he's a special player. We are lucky to have him."
It was the second win in as many games for Messi and Miami since losing to Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16 at the Club World Cup on June 29.
Messi scored twice in Saturday's 4-1 win over Montreal, and his two goals Wednesday helped Miami continue its climb back up the table in MLS' Eastern Conference.
With the amount of games that Messi has played this season in MLS and for Argentina, there was talk ahead of the game against the Revs that Mascherano might not play his star Wednesday, or would take him off early.
Mascherano said that plan went out the window with how the game played out.
«Yeah, we wanted to give them some rest, maybe in this game. But after New England scored the goal, we were under pressure, so we preferred to keep him on the pitch,» the Miami coach
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