Messi scores twice in 4-1 win over Revolution in front of record crowd at Gillette Stadium
FOXBORO -- Lionel Messi played in front of a record crowd at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night, as New England soccer fans packed the home of the Revolution to see soccer greatness at work. And the GOAT did not disappoint.
Revs fans got quite the show from the greatest player in the world, as Messi scored twice and tallied two assists to lead Miami to a 4-1 victory. He factored into each goal that Miami scored on Saturday night, becoming the first player in MLS history to record multiple goal contributions -- goals and/or assists -- in five consecutive games.
Essentially, it was just Messi being Messi on Saturday night.
He took the field to a rousing ovation from the 65,612 fans in attendance at Gillette Stadium, which set a new single-match record for the Revolution. It topped the previous record of 61,316 that attended the 2002 MLS Cup championship match between the Revs and the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Chants of "Messi! Messi!" fired up throughout the match, as everyone in the house expected to see a show. And they certainly got their money's worth from Messi.
Fans even got to see a glimmer of hope from the Revs, as New England struck first. Just over 30 seconds into the match, Tomas Chancalay gave New England a 1-0 edge when Miami keeper Drake Callender crept a little too far out of net, and the Revs winger made him pay.
But no one expected Messi to remain quiet for very long, and it felt inevitable that he was going to find a way to score. That happened in the 32nd minute, when Messi got in front of the New England defense deep in Revs territory and sent home a nice boot off his magical left foot to make it a 1-1 match.
It was Messi's eighth goal in MLS action this season, and continued quite the heater for Argentine superstar. Saturday night was the sixth straight match that Messi has scored for Inter Miami.
And he wasn't done for the night. Far from it.
Messi had another opportunity just out of halftime in the 65th minute, but Xavier Arreaga was able to block the bid. However, Messi wouldn't be denied for a second time just three minutes later.
He put Inter Miami on top in the 68th minute, when the New England defense once again let Messi sneak in front of them. That's a recipe for disaster, and Messi put in another goal off a feed from Sergio Busquets to put his squad up 2-1.
"That's Messi," Revolution head coach Caleb Porter said after the match. "He finds two goals out of nowhere, and it exposes the detail in those moments from us."
That second tally gave Messi his second straight brace and his third in the last five matches. Messi now leads MLS with nine goals on the season.
He had a chance at a hat trick in the 83rd minute, but Henrich Ravas stopped his point-blank attempt. Unfortunately for Ravas, the ball went right to Benjamin Cremaschi, and the midfielder buried it to put Miami on top 3-1.
Messi got an assist on that one and tallied another helper just six minutes later when he fed Luis Suarez in the middle of the field (and the New England defense). The striker went top shelf for his seventh goal of the season, which gave Miami a commanding 4-1 lead.
That was the final at Gillette Stadium, dropping the Revolution to a disappointing 1-7-1 on the season. But New England supporters won't remember Saturday night for the lopsided loss by their team.
It will instead be remembered as the night they got to see soccer royalty grace their home pitch, as Messi put on another epic performance in his first MLS match at Gillette Stadium.
