Lionel Messi scores four as Inter Miami rout CF Montreal 7-1
Lionel Messi scored four goals and provided an assist as Inter Miami beat CF Montreal 7-1 in a Major League Soccer match on Saturday. The result ended Miami’s five-game winless run across all competitions.
Interim coach Guillermo Hoyos lauded Messi after the game, saying: "There are no words to describe such footballing beauty. So much is going on that words simply fall short. He is constantly looking for that goal, that play, that pass; I don’t think he’s an ordinary footballer. Analyzing him, both as a player and as a person, goes so deep that you run out of words." The 39-year-old scored four times in an MLS match for the first time in his career, restoring Miami’s lead shortly before half-time, scoring again in the 52nd minute, completing a hat-trick in the 83rd and capping his display with a stoppage-time free kick.
Dejan Joveljic scored twice on his Seattle Sounders debut as Seattle drew 2-2 with the visiting Chicago Fire; Maren Haile-Selassie and Robert Lewandowski each recorded a goal and an assist for Chicago, who extended their MLS unbeaten run to five matches. Joveljic, acquired Tuesday from Sporting Kansas City in a $6m deal, opened the scoring in the 12th minute after a sequence that began with a throw-in on the left side, switched to the right and ended with Sebastian Gomez’s low cross finding Joveljic outside the top of the 6-yard box; his one-timer skirted through the legs of Elliott and caused goalkeeper Chris Brady to crumple to the turf. The Fire equalised in the 38th minute when Lewandowski passed to Haile-Selassie, whose 17-yard shot found the lower far corner; Joveljic struck again in the 48th minute, lofting a shot that Brady got his fingertips on before it hit the underside of the crossbar and crossed the line, with Snyder Brunell credited with a secondary assist.
Cavan Sullivan scored in the second half to help Philadelphia Union beat the New York Red Bulls 3-1, becoming the first 16-year-old in MLS history with goal contributions in four straight matches; his goal in the 50th minute was his second in successive games and third this season in 34 career appearances. Milan Iloski opened the scoring in the 21st minute with a career-high 11th goal, and Indiana Vassilev and Danley Jean Jacques recorded their first two assists of the season on the first two goals. Neil Pierre added a goal in the 65th minute, his fourth in seven appearances, with assists from Bruno Damiani and Iloski; Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting pulled one back for New York in the 74th minute for his third goal of the season. Andre Blake made three saves as Philadelphia improved to a 3-0-2 record in August, while New York goalkeeper Ethan Horvath had one save for New York (7-10-5), which has gone 0-3-1 since a 3-2 win over Orlando City to start the month.
Orlando City rescued a 3-3 draw with Minnesota United when Tyrese Spicer scored three minutes into second-half stoppage time, using assists from newcomer Antoine Griezmann and Iván Angulo to net a career-high sixth goal for the equaliser. Daryl Dike had put Orlando ahead in the 28th minute — his first goal this season, scored in his first start and fourth appearance — and Griezmann made it 2-0 in the 64th minute for his fourth goal in seven MLS appearances. Minnesota replied with three goals in four second-half minutes: Marcus Caldeira scored in the 71st minute with Kelvin Yeboah and Kyle Duncan credited on the build-up for Caldeira’s second goal in five appearances, Anthony Markanich levelled three minutes later with an assist from Joaquín Pereyra for his sixth goal, and Yeboah struck one minute after that for his 11th of the season to put Minnesota briefly ahead.
Messi’s four-goal performance moved him to the top of the MLS scoring charts with 18 goals this season. He won the 2022 World Cup and also captained Argentina to this year’s World Cup final, where they lost to Spain.