Lionel Messi scores twice while leading Inter Miami past NYCFC to secure MLS postseason spot

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami are headed to the playoffs.

Messi scored twice in the second half Wednesday night to lead Miami to a dominant 4-0 win over New York City FC at Citi Field. That brought Messi to five total goals scored over the past nine days, and the victory secured Miami’s spot in Major League Soccer’s postseason for the third straight time.

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Miami took a one-goal lead into halftime, thanks to a goal from Baltasar Rodríguez just before the break. Messi then gave Miami room to work with when he scored his first goal of the night in the 74th minute. He caught a pass in the middle of the field and chipped in an easy goal with his left foot.

Luis Suárez extended Miami’s lead not 10 minutes later when he scored off a penalty kick, which all but put the match out of reach for NYCFC. Then for good measure, Messi caught a pass from Marcelo Weigandt and easily worked his way down the field past multiple defenders before punching in his second goal of the night from the right side of the box.

Messi has 24 goals this season. He has scored at least two goals in eight of the team’s past 12 matches, and is now the fourth player in MLS history to score multiple goals in eight matches in a single season.

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Messi first joined Inter Miami in 2023, and immediately led it to a Leagues Cup title that summer. The team won the Supporters’ Shield last year, but Miami was knocked out of the first round of the playoffs by Atlanta United. Messi is reportedly close to finalizing a multi-year contract extension with Inter Miami, though specifics of that deal are not yet known.

The win Wednesday night was Miami’s 16th of the season. The club currently sits third in the Eastern Conference standings with 55 points in 29 games, five points back of the Philadelphia Union. It’ll take on the Toronto Tempo next on Saturday afternoon.

“We are happy because now we are officially qualified for the playoffs. That was very important for us, now we have to continue moving forward,” Miami head coach Javier Mascherano said, via ESPN.

“We know we have two games in hand so we will try to rest and recover before going to Toronto. We know how difficult Saturday will be because we have less than 72 hours to play, but we’ll try to play our best and win the game and to qualify as high as possible. If we can win the five remaining games that we have it will be great and we’ll have that chance to fight for the Supporters’ Shield.”