Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez each scored two goals to spark Inter Miami to a 4-2 Major League Soccer victory over visiting Montreal on Wednesday.
2025 Major League Soccer
4-2
Match Report
Inter Miami was forced to make two early substitutions, followed by another at the half.
The team’s fortune, however, would change shortly after, with the hosts taking command of the game in the 27th with captain Messi scoring the opener. Following a great ball recovery in midfield and drive forward from Busquets, the midfield orchestrator handed over the ball to Messi on the right side of the pitch outside the box. The Argentine maestro would then take a couple touches to create space to his left before unleashing a left-footed shot to the bottom left corner that bounced off the post and to the back of the net. The goal took Messi’s team-leading tally to seven this regular season.
The match would then go into the break with a 1-0 lead for Inter Miami.
In the second half, goalkeeper Ustari had an instrumental double-save to deny Montréal attempts from inside the box in the 68th minute.
The team extended its lead immediately after on the other end through Suárez’s first of the night. Following a brilliant individual play with Messi battling to retain possession on the right end of the box, he served a precise ball for Suárez around the penalty spot. Suárez then brought the pass down before burying the ball in the back of the net with a right-footed volley to record his third goal this regular season. The assist, meanwhile, was Messi’s third this league campaign.
Three minutes later, Suárez secured his brace in the 71st minute to extend Inter Miami’s lead to 3-0. The Uruguayan legend was quick to capitalize on a poor clearance from a Montréal defender, finishing first time from close range to take his goal tally this regular season to four. Notably, with his second of the game, Suárez reached 32 goals across all competitions for Inter Miami and tied Leonardo Campana in second place amongst the leading scorers in Club history.
The visitors then shortened the deficit in the 74th minute with a goal from winger Dante Sealy.
As the match neared its end, some Messi magic saw him extend Inter Miami’s lead once more in the 87th minute. A sublime passing sequence from the team concluded with a give and go between Messi Suárez for our captain to break into the and be left one on one against the keeper. He subsequently secured his brace on the night with a tidy chip to place the ball in the back of the net and take his team-leading scoring record this regular season to eight. The assist, on the other hand, was the seventh for Suárez, who remains as the teams top provider in the league this season.
Montréal then scored through Victor Loturi in the second minute of added time.
The 4-2 scoreline would then remain unchanged through the final minutes for Inter Miami to claim all three points at home in South Florida.
"We had to take responsibility for the poor results. It's a matter of correcting to regain confidence," said Suarez, who added the victory "means a lot ... We have to continue to gain confidence in this kind of game."
Inter coach Javier Mascherano was concerned about injuries to defenders Gonzalo Lujan, Tomas Aviles and Jordi Alba.
"We needed to cut the negative dynamic. I'm happy," he said.
"Unfortunately (the victory) is tarnished by the departure of Gonzalo, Jordi and Toto.
"In the case of Gonzalo and Jordi it was something muscular, which tomorrow we will see how far it is. In the case of 'Toto' it was the ankle that swelled in a stomp. Maybe he could continue. He wanted to continue."
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
3' Match Event for Inter Miami CF vs CF Montréal
11' Match Event for Inter Miami CF vs CF Montréal
18' Highlight from Inter Miami CF vs CF Montréal
19' Match Event for Inter Miami CF vs CF Montréal
24' Match Event for Inter Miami CF vs CF Montréal
27' GOAL! Inter Miami CF 1-0 CF Montréal (Lionel Messi)
35' Highlight from Inter Miami CF vs CF Montréal
43' Highlight from Inter Miami CF vs CF Montréal
51' Highlight from Inter Miami CF vs CF Montréal
59' Match Event for Inter Miami CF vs CF Montréal
64' Match Event for Inter Miami CF vs CF Montréal
68' GOAL! Inter Miami CF 2-0 CF Montréal (Luis Suárez)
70' GOAL! Inter Miami CF 3-0 CF Montréal
76' GOAL! Inter Miami CF 3-1 CF Montréal (Dante Sealy)
87' GOAL! Inter Miami CF 4-1 CF Montréal (Lionel Messi)
90'+2 GOAL! Inter Miami CF 4-2 CF Montréal (Victor Loturi)
Line-ups
Inter Miami CF XI: Óscar Ustari, Messi, Suarez, Alba, Busquets, Telasco Segovia, Tadeo Allende, Gonzalo Luján, Ian Fray, Noah Allen, Federico Redondo
Subs: Fafà Picault, David Martínez, Maximiliano Falcón, Marcelo Weigandt, Rocco Ríos Novo, Allen Obando, Benja Cremaschi, Tomás Avilés, Leo Afonso
CF Montréal XI: Prince Owusu, Joel Waterman, Giacomo Vrioni, Dante Sealy, Tom Pearce, Luca Petrasso, George Campbell, Jalen Neal, Jonathan Sirois, Nathan-Dylan Saliba, Victor Loturi
Subs: Samuel Piette, Sébastian Breza, Caden Clark, Brandan Craig, Jules-Anthony Vilsaint, Fernando Álvarez, Dawid Bugaj, Owen Graham-Roache, Yuri Guboglo