Inter Miami emphatically ended their five-game winless streak on Saturday, dismantling Montreal 7-1 at the Nu Stadium. The reigning MLS Cup champions, who had struggled since the post-World Cup restart with four losses in their previous five outings, delivered a dominant performance to climb to second in the Eastern Conference, trailing leaders Nashville by seven points.
The scoring began in the 20th minute when Casemiro, the Brazilian international who joined the squad following the World Cup, headed home his first goal for the club. Montreal briefly leveled the score in the 37th minute through Fabian Herbers, whose low strike from the edge of the box found the bottom corner.
Lionel Messi restored Miami’s advantage just three minutes later, catching goalkeeper Thomas Gillier off guard with a curling free-kick. Shortly after the break, the 39-year-old Argentine superstar extended the lead by weaving through a group of defenders to drill a shot into the net. Messi then turned provider, delivering a precise pass to Luis Suarez, who converted to further widen the gap.
The onslaught continued as Messi completed his hat-trick in the 83rd minute, latching onto a Rodrigo De Paul delivery to delicately chip the ball over the advancing Gillier. Teenage substitute Alex Shaw added to the tally in the 89th minute, firing a powerful low shot from distance.
Messi capped off his remarkable four-goal performance in the final moments of stoppage time, curling in another signature free-kick from the edge of the area. The result serves as a significant turnaround for Miami as they look to close the gap on the conference leaders. The report also notes that and went 2-1 up when a low curling free-kick from Messi somehow bamboozled Montreal goalkeeper Thomas Gillier in the 40th minute, but Miami did not have to wait long to regain the lead. The report also notes that laying on a superbly flighted pass to send former Barcelona team-mate Luis Suarez bearing down on goal, messi played a key role in Miami’s fourth. The report also notes that suarez made no mistake with the finish to seal an emphatic win. The report also notes that messi secured his hat-trick on 83 minutes when he latched on to a Rodrigo De Paul pass in the 83rd minute and delicately dinked over the advancing Gillier to make it 5-1.
