Lionel Messi scored twice and added an assist to lift Inter Miami to a 3-1 victory over Nashville SC in the opening game of their first-round MLS playoff series on Friday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Tadeo Allende also scored for third-seeded Miami, which has now defeated sixth-seeded Nashville in six consecutive matches across all competition.
A seventh straight win on Nov. 1 in Nashville would wrap up the best-of-three series with a game to spare and help erase some of the sting of Miami’s surprising playoff exit to Atlanta United at this stage last season.
Hany Mukhtar scored a very late consolation goal on a direct free kick for Nashville, which also took a 5-2 defeat to Miami on the final day of the regular season last Saturday.
Messi has now surpassed his scoring output from his entire previous playoff series against Atlanta, in which he had one goal and one assist in three matches. He has scored 12 goals in eight appearances against the Coyotes, with seven of those coming this season.
On Friday, he put Miami in front in the 19th minute.
Rodrigo de Paul helped create the attack with a clever short pass between charging defenders to play Messi into space down the middle.
Messi played wide to Luis Suarez, who returned a cross toward the penalty spot where Messi met it with a well-placed header past goalkeeper Joe Willis.
Allende doubled the lead in the 62nd minute, during a stretch when Nashville center back Jeisson Palacios was on the sideline because of the league’s off-field treatment rule.
Messi played the ball down the right to Ian Fray, who served an outswinging cross toward the penalty spot, in the vicinity Palacios might have normally been defending. Instead, Allende met it there for an unmarked header past Willis.
Messi added a second in second-half stoppage time on the simplest of finishes after Willis and center back Walker Zimmerman collided trying to defend Jordi Alba’s cross.
Mukhtar’s brilliant strike from 25 yards gave Nashville some consolation on the last meaningful kick of the game.
–Field Level Media
