Montréal 1-4 Inter Miami: Messi shines with brace & assist as visitors triumph

Game is over and the final score is CF Montréal 1-4 Inter Miami CF. Here is the match report.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

2' GOAL! CF Montréal 1-0 Inter Miami CF (Prince Owusu)

13' Highlight from CF Montréal vs Inter Miami CF

15' Match Event for CF Montréal vs Inter Miami CF

20' Highlight from CF Montréal vs Inter Miami CF

27' Highlight from CF Montréal vs Inter Miami CF

33' GOAL! CF Montréal 1-1 Inter Miami CF (Tadeo Allende)

39' Match Event for CF Montréal vs Inter Miami CF

40' Highlight from CF Montréal vs Inter Miami CF

54' Match Event for CF Montréal vs Inter Miami CF

60' GOAL! CF Montréal 1-3 Inter Miami CF (Telasco Segovia)

62' GOAL! CF Montréal 1-4 Inter Miami CF (Lionel Messi)

66' Highlight from CF Montréal vs Inter Miami CF

83' Highlight from CF Montréal vs Inter Miami CF

Match Report

Lionel Messi (38) scored two brilliant goals to lift Inter Miami to a 4-1 victory over Montreal in Miami's return to Major League Soccer action on Saturday in the wake of their elimination from the Club World Cup.

Miami were playing their first MLS game in more than a month. They had advanced past the first phase of the Club World Cup but fell 4-0 to Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16 last week.

Messi made sure there was no lingering let-down for Javier Mascherano's side, who are aiming to improve on their current sixth place in the Eastern Conference with 32 points from 17 matches.

"It is a great night, we took the three points that were very necessary to start thinking about the MLS again," Mascherano said. "It is never easy to reintegrate into the competition after the Club World Cup, and the players have done it perfectly."

Messi was a key figure throughout, although it was his miscue that led to the first goal for Montreal.

His backpass fell right in front of Montreal's Prince Owusu, who fired a left-footed shot past goalkeeper Oscar Ustari to make it 1-0 after two minutes.

Messi more than atoned.

In the 33rd minute, Messi found Tadeo Allende outside the area and Allende chipped a shot over Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirios.

In the 40th minute, Messi conjured his trademark magic, cutting in from the right corner of the box, eluding Fernando Alvarez, and curling the ball in at the far post for a goal that gave Miami a 2-1 halftime lead.

Telasco Segovia made it 3-1 in the 60th minute with a blast from outside the area that hit the crossbar and bounced into the net.

Messi bagged his second goal two minutes later, evading four defenders and finishing an outstanding solo run with a shot into the heart of the goal.

Messi now has seven goals in his last four MLS matches, bringing his total to 12 in 14 games.

"Leo is happy playing football," Mascherano said. "Every time he is fit, he is going to play. Clearly, we have an extra advantage when he plays and we want to use that advantage as much as possible."

Miami now face a hectic MLS stretch, with five more matches before the end of the month.

Line-ups

CF Montréal XI: Samuel Piette, Prince Owusu, Dante Sealy, Tom Pearce, Luca Petrasso, Caden Clark, Jonathan Sirois, Brandan Craig, Victor Loturi, Fernando Álvarez, Dawid Bugaj

Subs: Sébastian Breza, Sunusi Ibrahim, George Campbell, Bryce Duke, Mahala Opoku, Jules-Anthony Vilsaint, Gennadiy Synchuk, Owen Graham-Roache, Yuri Guboglo

Inter Miami CF XI: Óscar Ustari, Messi, Suarez, Alba, Busquets, Maximiliano Falcón, Marcelo Weigandt, Telasco Segovia, Tadeo Allende, Benja Cremaschi, Tomás Avilés

Subs: Fafà Picault, David Martínez, Rocco Ríos Novo, Ryan Sailor, Federico Redondo, Baltasar Rodríguez, Allen Obando, Santiago Morales, Leo Afonso