Lionel Messi returned from his injury layoff to score his 13th and 14th MLS goals and contribute his 14th assist, and Inter Miami overcame an early deficit to earn a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night.
Luis Suarez added his team-leading 17th goal in second-half stoppage time to keep him two behind DC’s Christian Benteke for MLS Golden Boot and maintain Miami’s lead in the Supporters’ Shield race.
Jordi Alba contributed his 10th and 11th assists on Messi’s goals on a night Miami (19-4-5, 62 points) became the first team across the 60-point threshold.
Drake Callender made seven saves in the Herons’ fifth consecutive victory and ninth out of 10 despite playing the previous nine of those without Messi, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Mikael Uhre scored in the opening moments for the Union, who began the night in 11th place in the Eastern Conference and two points beneath the playoff line.
Philadelphia offered a better performance than the final score indicated, besting Miami 20-9 in shots and 8-4 in efforts on target, but being thwarted at times by Callender and others due to its own wastefulness.
Messi last played for Miami on June 1 before departing for Argentina’s Copa America campaign, and he hadn’t played any competitive minutes since suffering an ankle ligament injury in the Copa America final on July 14.
But it didn’t take him long to assert himself and erase Miami’s early deficit.
In the 26th minute, Suarez took Alba’s entry pass with his back to the goal and laid the ball to his left with his first touch. Messi took the layoff, evaded Kai Wagner’s challenge then drilled a low strike to beat Andrew Rick.
Four minutes later, it was Alba providing the cross directly for Messi to run onto at the penalty spot and guide in. Rick dove low and touched the ball, but couldn’t keep it out.
Miami weathered considerable second-half pressure before Messi made his final contribution, laying the ball off for Suarez to curl in the bottom left corner on Miami’s final foray forward of the evening.