Lionel Messi spares Inter Miami's blushes and makes more history after horror start

Lionel Messi continued his swashbuckling start to the new MLS campaign as he put in a captain's performance to lead Inter Miami's fightback against the New England Revolution - making history in the process.

The talismanic attacker rolled back the years with two memorable poacher's finishes to gain the advantage on the road after the Herons had fallen behind in the first minute of play. It had appeared that Miami were set for a long evening at Gillette Stadium when the Argentine's compatriot Tomás Chancalay was on hand with a sumptuous lob to open the scoring for the home side.

That strike came after just 38 seconds, with Vice City made to wait patiently for their opportunity to restore parity in the clash. However, concerns on the Herons' bench were allayed in the 32nd minute as Messi supplied a typically deft finish for the equalizer following a move started by Sergio Busquets via a through ball from Robert Taylor.

That classic combination of the two former Barcelona greats proved too potent for the Revolution to handle after the interval too - with Miami's skipper on hand to put his team into the lead. This time, an inch-perfect pass from Busquets unlocked the New England defence - with Messi springing their offside trap to secure his brace.

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Leading by example, the World Cup winner's heroics to give his team the foothold in the game inspired his teammates to follow in his footsteps in the second period. Homegrown ace Benjamin Cremaschi pressed home Miami's advantage first, as he established a two-goal cushion for the visitors - this coming after Messi's initial effort was parried.

From there, the result was a mere formality as substitute Luis Suárez eventually latched onto a set-up from the captain once more as the Uruguayan linked up with his old strike partner once again. Rounding off a comfortable 4-1 win, albeit after an initial scare, the victory left the Herons sitting at the summit of the Eastern Conference after 11 games.

With designs on adding to their Leagues Cup triumph from last term, this latest win will have fans dreaming that an inaugural MLS Cup could be heading to Chase Stadium this season. On this showing too, it appears their star man Messi has lost none of his brilliance and desire for silverware either.

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Inter Miami's captain Lionel Messi rolled back the years to combine expertly with Sergio Busquets versus the New England Revolution

In fact, to put his performance versus New England into some context, the 36-year-old marksman became the first player in MLS history with five consecutive multi-goal contribution games. Moreover, his showing also left him on nine goals already in the league, alongside seven assists.

Incredibly, this puts the Argentine hero top of the MLS leaderboard in terms of both goals and assists at this point of the season. Reflecting on a memorable victory, Miami head coach Tata Martino asserted: "People in every stadium come to see and support Leo Messi, but after they want their team to win.

"We are motivated by the atmosphere each city provides, but we know it incentivises the rivals, as well. And we try to prepare for that. The excitement each team and their fan base has of facing Inter Miami with the players that we have, we've handed it well. This was all a lesson last year."