Lionel Messi made an impressive return from injury, scoring within two minutes of coming on as a substitute in Inter Miami‘s 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Union on Saturday.
The Argentine star had been sidelined with an adductor strain, which caused him to miss Argentina’s World Cup qualifiers during the international break. His last appearance was in Miami’s 2-1 win against Atlanta on March 16.
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The scoring began when Finnish winger Robert Taylor found the net in the 23rd minute. The goal came after Jordi Alba’s run down the left flank, with Benjamin Cremaschi providing the final low pass to Taylor.
Messi entered the game in the 55th minute under coach Javier Mascherano’s direction. His former Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez set him up on the right side, where Messi created space before scoring with a low right-footed shot into the far corner.
Philadelphia reduced the deficit in the 80th minute through Daniel Gazdag. The Hungarian midfielder controlled Quinn Sullivan’s cross from the right before finishing with a precise shot.
Inter Miami remains undefeated and leads the Eastern Conference with four wins in their first five matches of the season.
The team faces a challenging schedule ahead, starting with a CONCACAF Champions Cup quarter-final first leg against LAFC in Los Angeles on Wednesday. They then host Toronto the following Sunday before returning to Los Angeles for the second leg.
“We didn’t want to risk him from the start because we thought he might be at risk playing the whole game, but we did want him to get some minutes,” said the Argentine coach.
“The plan is that he can recover and travel to Los Angeles. He played today because he was fine. Maybe he wasn’t ready for the full 90 minutes but it was good for him to play 45 minutes. If nothing unusual happens the plan is for him to travel.”
In other MLS action, Atlanta United secured a thrilling 4-3 victory over New York City FC. Despite trailing 3-1, Atlanta mounted a comeback with help from Miguel Almiron’s header and Emmanuel Latte Lath’s late winner.
Diego Rossi contributed two goals in Columbus Crew’s 2-1 win at DC United.
Minnesota United defeated Real Salt Lake 2-0, with Canadian striker Tani Oluwaseyi scoring twice.
The New England Revolution secured a dramatic 2-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls. Spanish midfielder Carles Gil opened the scoring with a free-kick and later converted a penalty in stoppage time for the win, while Eric Choupo-Moting scored for the Red Bulls.
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