MIAMI: Lionel Messi dazzled in his return from injury on Saturday, scoring two goals in four minutes and adding an assist in Inter Miami’s 3-1 Major League Soccer victory over the Philadelphia Union. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has not played since injuring his right ankle in the Copa America final on July 14, helping Argentina to victory over Colombia. He has since missed eight MLS games for his club and this month’s World Cup qualifiers for his country. Messi hasn’t played for Inter since June 1, but he didn’t miss a minute when included in the starting line-up. “The truth is I’m a little tired,” he said after the game. “The heat and humidity in Miami doesn’t help much either, but I really wanted to come back, I was out for a long time. “Little by little I trained with the group, I felt good and that’s why we decided to start and I’m very happy – very happy.” Miami coach Gerardo Martino was pleased to see his star player feeling “good” after the 90th minute. Philadelphia took advantage of Mikael Uhre’s left-handed shot from the outside in the second minute. Messi grabbed the equalizer in the 26th minute, collecting Luis Suarez’s pass and beating defender Kai Wagner before unleashing a right-footed finish to a sequence started by Jordi Alba from the left. Ecstatic fans were still celebrating when Inter fired ahead in the 30th and linked up with Alba again to fire a left-footed shot from the center of the pitch into the bottom right corner. Inter thought Suarez had made it 3-1 before half-time, but his goal was disallowed after a VAR review. But Suarez added a goal deep into the second half when Messi, who also picked up his first MLS yellow card for standing on a corner kick, was injured and added an assist. Martino said the late goal vindicated his decision to keep both players in the game until the end, saying “they both played the whole game because they were fine to finish the game”. The win extended Inter Miami’s lead at the top of the MLS standings to 62 points, 10 ahead of their nearest Eastern Conference rivals FC Cincinnati, with six games remaining in the regular season. Messi is also delighted to be leading the race for the Supporters’ Shield, awarded to the team at the top of the overall table, despite his long absence. “We were very unlucky with injuries during the year, we were never at full strength,” he said. “For one reason or another we were always short of players and the group always came through. “We’re up by a big margin today and deservedly so, and hopefully we can finish what that means and what comes after.” Messi’s two goals, which took him to 14 in just 13 games, put him back in contention for the top scorer title. Suarez, meanwhile, has 17 goals, two behind the all-time MLS scoring leader, DC United’s Christian Benteke. After the 19,000 fans at Fort Lauderdale’s Chase Stadium gave Messi a warm welcome, the hosts were quickly given a scare when Uhre scored just 58 seconds in. The Danish forward controlled Argentina defender Tomas Aviles’ header and surprised goalkeeper Drake Callender with a blast against the post. Minutes later, Martino received another shock when Paraguayan defender David Martinez was injured while intercepting a pass from Philadelphia. Union continued to put Callender under pressure, but at the other end, Messi began to use the space to link up with Alba and Suarez. In the 26th minute, Alba ran the length of the pitch and delivered the ball to Suarez, who instructed Messi to cut to Wagner to score. Four minutes later, Alba sent a cross from the left into the heart of the box, which Suarez cleared and Messi made it 2-1. Messi, 37 and in his second season in the United States, is the fastest player to record his first 15 goals and 15 assists in MLS in just 19 games.
