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| Lionel Messi / Photo=GettyImages |
[By Kang Tae-gu, Sports Today] Lionel Messi scored in his second straight game and drove Inter Miami to a comeback win.
Inter Miami beat New York City FC 3-2 on March 23 (Korea time) at Yankee Stadium in the fifth round of the 2026 Major League Soccer season.
The victory moved Miami to 3-1-1 (10 points, +1 goal difference). They sit third in the Eastern Conference on goal difference behind New York City, which also has 10 points but a +7 goal difference.
Messi, starting as an attacking midfielder, continued his hot form with another key goal and a strong overall showing.
The strike was Messi’s 901st career goal and his 71st from a free kick. He is one free-kick goal behind Juninho Pernambucano (72), who is third all-time; Marcelinho Carioca leads the list with 78.
According to statistics site Footmob, Messi completed 85% of his passes (40/47) in 90 minutes, created two chances, had four shots on target, posted 57% shooting accuracy (4/7), completed two successful dribbles and won 27% of his duels (3/11).
Footmob gave Messi an 8.7 rating—the highest on the pitch.
Miami struck first in the 4th minute when Gonzalo Juan opened the scoring, but Nicolas Fernandez leveled for New York City in the 17th minute.
The teams went into halftime tied 1-1. Early in the second half, Agustin Ojeda put New York City ahead in the 59th minute to make it 2-1.
Messi answered two minutes later. From a free kick just over 20 meters out in the 61st minute, he unleashed a low, driven left-foot shot that deflected off a defender and found the net.
Buoyed by Messi’s goal, Miami completed the turnaround in the 74th minute when Mikael scored to make it 3-2.
Once they took the lead, Miami held firm and repelled New York City’s late pressure to secure the 3-2 victory.
[Sports Today reporter Kang Tae-gu sports@stoo.com]
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