Lionel Messi needed only a single touch to bamboozle the New England Revolution, and boost Inter Miami to a record-breaking win on a wild final day of the MLS regular season.
A few days removed from a hat trick for Argentina 4,400 miles away, he stepped into a 2-2 game Saturday with clocks at Inter’s Chase Stadium showing 57:00.
As fans bowed to their GOAT, play resumed around 57:15, with Miami needing a goal to complete a comeback and set the MLS record for points in a single season.
And at 57:31, with his first touch after entering as a substitute, Messi helped create it. He checked to the ball at the top of the box. He clipped it over the top of a frozen Revs defense, and into the path of Jordi Alba, who squared to Benjamin Cremaschi for the winner.
Oh, and he didn’t stop there. Almost exactly 20 minutes later, Messi combined with Luis Suarez, and scored to double Miami’s lead.
Soon thereafter, he snuck in his 19th goal of the 2024 MLS season — in only 19 games (16 starts) — to seal the deal.
And then, for good measure, he scored his 20th — and capped his second hat trick in five days.
The 6-2 victory lifted Inter to 74 points, one more than the Revs earned in 2021, the previous high-water mark.
And like much of Miami’s season, it was glorious — but also unnecessarily tricky and nervy.
For the 17th time in 34 games, Miami conceded first — this time in 72 seconds. The main culprit was center back Héctor MartÃnez, one of several defenders who’ve been shaky in 2024, and who’ve left head coach Tata Martino searching, still, for a solid defensive duo. His lineup changes virtually every game.
The Herons have run away with the Supporters’ Shield, the MLS regular season title, but not because they’ve been sound defensively. They have given up the first goal more often than they’ve scored it — a remarkable stat for a champion.
But they’ve almost always responded. They’ve now won nine (and drawn four) of the 17 games in which they conceded first.
On Saturday, in the 34th minute, they went two goals down. They conceded the type of goal so laughably bad that the official MLS X account chose not to post it. The ball squirmed through multiple Miami players, and ultimately through goalkeeper Drake Callender’s legs, across the line and into the net.
But Suarez scored twice just before halftime to level the score at 2-2.
Messi then entered after 57 minutes, and that’s when the game truly changed. Miami ran away with the win, and the points record. Next up: The playoffs, which begin next weekend.
MLS Eastern Conference playoff matchups and bracket
Elsewhere in the East, Montreal hung on to a playoff spot, but DC United flopped and coughed up the final spot to Atlanta United.
The matchups are as follows:
1. Inter Miami
8. Play-in winner (Atlanta or Montreal)
4. Orlando City
5. Charlotte FC
2. Columbus Crew
7. New York Red Bulls
3. FC Cincinnati
6. NYCFC
The play-in match between Atlanta and Montreal is Tuesday or Wednesday. The true first round begins Friday, Oct. 25.
Drama in the Western Conference
Out in the Western Conference, there was much more drama.
The LA Galaxy entered Decision Day needing only a draw with Houston to clinch the top seed. If they lost, LAFC could steal the No. 1 spot from their rivals with a multi-goal win over the San Jose Earthquakes.
When the clocks struck 90:00 in each match, the Galaxy were clinging to the top of the table. They trailed Houston 1-0, but LAFC was only up 2-1 on the lowly Earthquakes — meaning the two teams were tied on goal differential, and the Galaxy maintained a slender lead on the goals scored tiebreaker.
Then, in the 91st minute, LAFC scored to edge ahead on goal differential.
Then, in the 95th minute in Houston, the Galaxy were awarded a penalty, via a VAR review. In the 96th, Gabriel Pec converted from the spot, and the Galaxy appeared to have won the conference by a point, with a 1-1 draw.
But in the 101st minute in Houston, with LAFC watching and hoping from afar, Houston defender Daniel Steres stunned the Galaxy with a header — dragging the Galaxy back down into second place, and giving LA the No. 1 seed.
The full Western Conference seeding and matchups are:
1. LAFC
8. Play-in winner (Vancouver Whitecaps or Portland Timbers)
4. Seattle Sounders
5. Houston Dynamo
2. LA Galaxy
7. Colorado Rapids
3. Real Salt Lake
6. Minnesota United