While still adjusting to a new squad, Lionel Messi keeps scoring goals in large quantities.
Messi scored three goals in a row for Inter Miami in a 3-1 victory over Orlando City on Wednesday. This was his second consecutive multi-goal outing.
Thunderstorms caused a 95-minute delay in the Leagues Cup Round of 32 match.
Messi opened the scoring seven minutes into the game and added a second goal in the 72nd. Since making his eagerly awaited MLS debut on July 21, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has scored five goals in three games.
Messi intercepted a pass from Robert Taylor with his chest as he evaded the Orlando City backline, advanced a few yards to the outside of the 6-yard box, and fired a shot that went under the crossbar.
Inter Miami had a 1-0 lead after the goal, but Orlando leveled the score 11 minutes later.
After receiving a centering pass from Josef Martinez, Messi scored again, giving Inter Miami a 3-1 lead with a right-footed drive that he flicked inside the left post.
“It is not illogical to think that he has scored five goals in three matches,” Martino said. “Sometimes I feel we overdo it coming up with greater adjectives. It just comes down to talking about the best player in the world.”
Martino was also eager to point out that Messi’s right foot, not his famed left foot, which has scored from a variety of angles in a variety of circumstances, was responsible for the second goal on Wednesday.
“He’s been doing the same for 17-18 years,” Martino said. “He said he was coming here to compete and win. He is fulfilling what he said.”
With the victory, Inter Miami will face Dallas FC in the tournament’s Round of 16.
Early in the second half, Messi was struck by Orlando’s Mauricio Pereyra, giving Inter Miami another worry. For a few minutes, Messi stayed on the ground while favoring his jaw.
Messi was issued a hard foul penalty in the 21st minute, earning him his first caution with Inter Miami.
Jordi Alba, a former colleague of Messi’s at Barcelona, entered the game in the 64th minute and made his Inter-Miami debut.
The game was supposed to begin at 8 o’clock, but the weather delayed things.
45 minutes prior to the game’s scheduled start, Messi and his Inter Miami colleagues arrived on the DRV PNK Stadium field for warm-ups. Twenty minutes or so later, the torrential rains started.
Messi and his teammates reemerged for a second round of pregame warm-ups after stadium staff cleared water puddles from the area near midfield.
Since joining the MLS team, Messi has played in two League Cup games without seeing adverse weather. In a triumph against Atlanta United, he contributed two goals in addition to the game-winning goal against Cruz Azul.
