Inter Miami CF (6W-2L-3D, 18 points) earned a resounding 1-4 win on the road over the New England Revolution on Saturday night to continue building onto the team’s positive momentum early in the regular season. A record-setting performance from captain Lionel Messi led the team to victory. He made MLS history with his brace and assist, breaking the previous record for the most goal contributions in a player’s first seven games to start a season, and becoming the first player to register multiple goal contributions in five straight matches. Goals by second-half-substitutes Benjamin Cremaschi and Luis Suárez capped the team’s impressive victory on the night.
The evening also saw Inter Miami play in front of a record home-crowd for the opposition for the second time this season after the record-setting attendance against the Sporting Kansas City on April 13, with 65,612 fans in the stands at Gillette Stadium to set a new record in attendance in a New England Revolution home game.
Lineup Notes
Inter Miami took the pitch at Gillette Stadium with two changes to the team’s starting XI from the win over Nashville SC last weekend. Drake Callender started in goal; Marcelo Weigandt, Tomás Avilés, Nicolás Freire and Franco Negri made up a back line of four; Julian Gressel, Sergio Busquets and David Ruiz lined up in midfield; captain Messi and Robert Taylor flanked striker Leonardo Campana in attack.
Notably, recently signed Paraguayan international midfielder Matías Rojas featured in a matchday squad for the first time and began the match on the bench. Attackers Campana and Taylor, meanwhile, slotted in the starting lineup upon their returns from injury.
Match Action
The match got off to a quick start, with the hosts opening the scoring in the first minute of action through a goal by forward Tomás Chancalay.
Despite the early lead for the hosts, Inter Miami bounced back in the 32nd minute with the equalizer. Taylor picked up possession outside the box before playing a through ball for Messi, the Argentine maestro then received the ball inside the box on the right end before beating the keeper with a calm left-footed finish to tie the match at 1-1. The goal was Messi’s eight this regular season and 10th across all competitions this season, while the assist was the second for Taylor this regular season. The goal saw Messi make MLS history as he registered his 14th goal contribution (eight goals, six assists) in the first seven games of his season to become the first player to achieve the feat and surpass previous league record holders Thierry Henry and Carlos Vela (13 each). Additionally, Messi also became the sixth player all-time with a goal contribution in each of his first seven MLS games of a season.
The second half then saw Messi continue in scintillating form to help Inter Miami turn the proceedings around. In the 68th minute, Busquets threaded a through ball into the box to leave Messi one on one with the keeper, where he struck with a left-footed finish to the far post for the visitors to take a 1-2 lead. The goal was Messi’s ninth this regular season and 11th across all competitions this year, while the assist was Busquets’ third this regular season and fourth across all competitions. The goal saw Messi make further MLS history, as he became the first player ever to register five straight matches with multiple goal contributions. Additionally, with the goal Messi took the lead in the league’s 2024 regular season top scorers table.
Inter Miami then made two substitutions to fuel the team’s attack for the final stretch of the match, with midfielders Cremaschi and Rojas coming on in place of Gressel and Taylor in the 75th minute. Notably, the substitution saw Rojas make his Inter Miami and MLS debut.
In the 83rd minute, a team play concluded with impressive effort by Rojas to keep the ball in play before sending a grounded pass to Messi in the center of the box, with our captain’s initial attempt being stopped by the keeper before Cremaschi took advantage of the rebound to strike and extend the team’s lead to 1-3. The goal was the first for Cremaschi this season in what was just his third appearance this regular season after recovering from surgery carried out in January to repair a sports hernia.
Five minutes later, Suárez would add his name to the scoresheet to close out the goal fest. A cheeky flick from Cremaschi found Messi on the right end of the pitch before he played a ball for Suárez on the edge of the box, where the Uruguayan striker took a touch and sent the ball to the back of the net with a fantastic right-footed curler. The goal was Suárez’s seventh this regular season and ninth across all competitions, while the assist took Messi’s team-leading tally this regular season to seven and expanded his record-setting number of goal contributions in a player’s first seven games to start a season to a total of 16 (nine goals, seven assists). In addition, the secondary assist on the play was Cremaschi’s first assist this regular season.
The 1-4 scoreline then remained unchanged throughout the final minutes and Inter Miami claimed all three points at Gillette Stadium to remain atop the Eastern Conference standings.
Post-Match Reaction
"When we found Robert [Taylor's] pass to Leo [Messi] we began to gain a little more confidence and to play - not another type of match - but having another type of possession, more joyful, much more dynamic, with players between the lines, deep players, it generates another look, the team plays better that way,” said head coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino.
Next Match
Next, Inter Miami will return home to South Florida to host the New York Red Bulls at Chase Stadium on Saturday, May 4 at 7:30 p.m. ET for what will be the second matchup between the sides this regular season.
Stats
Possession:
NE - 46.5%
MIA - 53.5%
Shots:
NE - 7
MIA - 13
Saves:
NE - 3
MIA - 0
Corners:
NE - 2
MIA - 4
Fouls:
NE - 4
MIA - 10
