Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi each recorded a brace to help host Inter Miami emphatically snap a five-match winless streak with a 4-0 shutout of D.C. United on Saturday night in Miami.
Suarez also had an assist on one of Messi’s goals as Inter Miami (13-5-10, 49 points) moved up to second place in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference and one point ahead of the Chicago Fire.
German Berterame also recorded two assists while Sergio Reguilon and Rodrigo De Paul each had one.
D.C. United (6-9-12, 30 points) fell further out of the playoff picture and is now six points behind FC Cincinnati for the conference’s final postseason play-in berth.
Suarez scored his 14th and 15th goals before he was substituted off in the 61st minute. Inter Miami brought its MLS-leading team goals total to 68, and recorded its fifth clean sheet overall and first in 10 matches.
Dayne St. Clair picked up his third shutout of the season.
D.C. United mustered 14 shots overall, but only two on target including a close shot by Matti Peltola that sailed just high and over the crossbar in the second half.
Suarez found the mark in the third minute when he left-footed a long cross from Berterame past D.C. United goalkeeper Sean Johnson. Reguilon recorded the second assist as he fired the ball ahead to Berterame, allowing him to send a high-arching ball that appeared to be redirected right to Suarez.
Suarez scored his second in the 39th minute after Berterame controlled a rebound and headed it to him right in front of the goal. The goal followed a great chance by Messi, who fired a close-range shot that Johnson blocked high into the air, allowing Berterame to track it down.
Messi found his way onto the scoresheet in the 47th minute for his MLS-leading 22nd goal to give Inter Miami a 3-0 edge.
The Argentine first fired a shot at the top of the box that was deflected. Suarez controlled the deflection and lobbed a cross to Messi, who tapped it past Johnson.
Messi recorded his second in the 60th minute when he controlled a back heel from Rodrigo De Paul, juked past D.C. United’s Lucas Bartlett, and fired the ball just inside the far post.
Johnson made five saves for D.C. United.
–Field Level Media
