Lionel Messi scored two goals to excite a record New England Revolution crowd, leading Inter Miami to a 4-1 victory on Saturday night.
Messi did not disappoint the crowd of 65,612 that filled Gillette Stadium, scoring with a left-footed shot from deep inside the box for his ninth goal of the season, putting his side 2-1 up in the 68th minute.
Messi made a little history, too. Miami posted on X that he was the first player in MLS history to record 16 goal contributions in his first seven games of a season.
“Obviously, he’s done it his whole life. We expect it from him,” said teammate Benjamin Cremaschi, who scored the third goal after Messi’s shot was blocked. “He makes it look so easy. We’re just happy that we have him by our side. When he has the opportunity, he takes it.”
The attendance beat the previous record of 61,316, when Revolution lost to LA Galaxy in the 2002 MLS final.
“I thought in the first half, after (our) goal, we had them locked up pretty good,” the New England coach, Caleb Porter, said. “They weren’t getting many chances, they weren’t getting a lot of time and space to operate. Then Messi did what he does, he found a crack.”
When the 36-year-old scored, loud cheers echoed around the stands in a match that featured the Eastern Conference’s first-placed Miami against bottom-placed Revolution.
Cremaschi and Luis Suárez both scored late for Miami and Messi was credited with an assist for Suarez’s goal.
Revolution had made it 1-0 in the opening minute when Tomas Chancalay beat a defender and chipped a shot over onrushing goalkeeper Drake Callender.
Even with the Boston Celtics and Bruins both in the playoffs, much of the sports landscape centred on Messi’s visit this week.
Entering the stadium about 90 minutes before the match were hundreds of fans, mostly kids, wearing the pink Miami Messi jersey. They were easily seen mixed in once the stadium was filled. Sprinkled in were some of the Messi No 10 Argentina white-and-blue-striped shirts.
“I am so excited,” said Stacy Mills, 31, a travelling nurse from East Tennessee, who was wearing one of the Messi Argentina jerseys. “I’ve actually followed him since he was playing with Barcelona.”
Her friend Caleadia Jessup, 53, also a travel nurse, from Fayetteville, North Carolina, was proud to show off her Messi Argentina one, too. “I followed him when he played for the home country in the World Cup,” she said.
