Inter Miami interim coach Guillermo Hoyos ran out of superlatives for Lionel Messi after the Argentine playmaker scored four goals in a Major League Soccer match for the first time in his career to inspire a 7-1 thrashing of CF Montreal on Saturday. Messi’s four-goal haul and an assist came at a crucial time for Miami, helping them snap a five-game winless run across all competitions. The 39-year-old restored Miami’s advantage shortly before half-time, struck again in the 52nd minute, completed his hat-trick in the 83rd and capped his dazzling display with a free kick in stoppage time.
The former Barcelona forward now tops the MLS scoring charts with 18 goals this season. Analyzing him, both as a player and as a person, goes so deep that you run out of words.” Messi, who won the 2022 World Cup, also captained Argentina to this year’s World Cup final, where they lost to Spain. The Brazilian and Messi spent years on opposite sides of one of football’s fiercest rivalries, with Casemiro starring for Real Madrid and Messi for Barcelona, but are now teammates.
Dejan Joveljic tallied twice in his Seattle Sounders debut in a 2-2 draw with the visiting Chicago Fire on Saturday afternoon. Maren Haile-Selassie and Robert Lewandowski each had a goal and an assist for Chicago, who extended their MLS unbeaten run to five matches. The Sounders have earned two straight draws after an eight- match losing streak in MLS matches.
Joveljic, acquired Tuesday from Sporting Kansas City in a $6m deal, opened the scoring in the 12th minute. Following a throw-in on the left side of the field, the Sounders switched and moved the ball down the right wing, with Kalani Kossa-Rienzi sending a pass to Sebastian Gomez deep in the corner. Gomez’s low cross found Joveljic just outside the top of the 6-yard box and his one-timer skirted through the legs of Elliott and turned goalie Chris Brady into a pretzel as he crumpled to the turf.
The Fire tied it at 1-all in the 38th minute. Lewandowski took a pass from Andrew Gutman at the top left of the penalty area and fed Haile-Selassie, whose 17-yard shot from just left of center found the lower far corner of the net. Joveljic scored again in the 48th minute. He took a pass from Rusnak just outside the top of the 18-yard box and lofted a shot that Brady got his fingertips on but the ball went off the underside of the crossbar and into the net.
Snyder Brunell was credited with a secondary assist. Cavan Sullivan scored in the second half to become the first 16-year-old in MLS history with goal contributions in four straight matches, and the Philadelphia Union beat the New York Red Bulls 3-1 on Saturday night to extend their unbeaten streak to seven. Sullivan found the net for a second straight match and third time this season in 34 career appearances to give Philadelphia a 2-0 lead in the 50th minute.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
