Messi brace lifts Inter Miami to 3-1 win in Atlanta

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP)—Lionel Messi scored twice in the space of four minutes to lift Inter Miami to a 3-1 victory at Atlanta United on Saturday as the Herons' MLS title defense continued to gain steam with the playoffs approaching. The 39-year-old superstar tops the Major League Soccer scoring chart with 25 goals, six ahead of Croatian striker Petar Musa of FC Dallas and Philadelphia's Milan Iloski. At the same Atlanta stadium where Messi helped Argentina beat England in the World Cup semi-finals in July, Messi delivered two scintillating goals to secure Miami's third straight victory.

German Berterame, who put Miami up 1-0 in the 45th minute, turned provider, finding Messi who weaved through the Atlanta defense to unleash a left footed shot from the center of the box and make it 2-0 in the 56th minute. Four minutes later Messi struck again, breaking away on a pass from Luis Suarez and getting the better of hapless Junior Alonso to fire past Atlanta keeper Lucas Hoyos. Messi had helped put Miami on top shortly before halftime, heading the ball to Suarez who shook off his defender in the box and lofted a pass that Berterame nodded home to make it 1-0.

Messi was credited with an assist, that saw him pull level with LAFC's Son Heung-min atop the assists table. Messi is the first player in MLS history to record at least 15 assists in three straight seasons. Messi now has four goals in three matches since his emotional Argentina send-off.

Miami, who clinched a playoff berth on Wednesday, won their third straight game under Cristian "Kily" Gonzalez, who took over as coach last month. Fafa Picault converted a penalty in the 89th minute to pull a goal back for Atlanta, but at second-from-bottom in the Eastern Conference Gerardo Martino's team are running out of time to turn things around in time to reach the playoffs. Louis City's MLS record-tying 19-match unbeaten streak ended with a 3-2 loss at Minnesota as Philadelphia's undefeated run reached 15 matches with a 2-2 draw with Charlotte.

Canadian Marcus Caldeira scored the game winner for Minnesota in the 86th minute after United fell behind early on St. Louis goals by Brazilian forward Rafael Navarro and South Korean winger Jeong Sang-bin. Aziel Jackson answered for Minnesota in the 49th minute and Kelvin Yeboah netted the equalizer in the 68th.