Lionel Messi delivered another decisive performance for Inter Miami, scoring once and assisting another in a 3-1 win over the Seattle Sounders on Tuesday — a match that carried extra weight following their controversial Leagues Cup final clash just weeks earlier.
The 38-year-old Argentine, who lifted the 2022 World Cup with his country and defined an era at Barcelona, orchestrated Miami’s fast start. In the 12th minute he set up long-time teammate Jordi Alba for the opener, before adding a clinical strike himself in the 41st to send Miami into half-time 2-0 ahead.
American defender Ian Fray extended the lead in the 52nd minute, effectively sealing the contest, before Seattle’s Obed Vargas pulled one back in the 69th.
The fixture came with added tension after Seattle’s 3-0 win over Miami in the Leagues Cup final on August 31, a match marred by a benches-clearing brawl and Luis Suárez’s infamous spitting incident.
For Miami, Tuesday’s win carried symbolic weight. “It was important, beyond good feelings, to get this victory against a great rival who had denied us a trophy only weeks ago,” head coach Javier Mascherano said. “We played the game we needed to play.”
Suárez, who apologised publicly, was banned from the 2026 Leagues Cup and handed a three-match MLS suspension. He served the second game of that ban during this rematch.
The win was also vital in MLS terms. Miami, who had dropped to eighth after a 3-0 defeat at Charlotte, improved their record to 14 wins, 6 losses, and 7 draws (49 points). The result lifted them to fifth in the Eastern Conference, eight points behind leaders Philadelphia but with three games in hand.
Mascherano set out the target for the run-in: “We have seven finals left. Our goal is to win all seven and finish top of the conference. Expectations are high, and we must stay sharp and never relax.”
Seattle, meanwhile, fell to 12 wins, 8 losses, and 9 draws (45 points). The defeat dropped them to fourth in the Western Conference, just one point clear of Los Angeles FC, leaving their playoff positioning under pressure.
For Miami, Messi’s enduring brilliance and Alba’s familiar synergy offered both revenge for August’s defeat and momentum for the decisive final stretch of the MLS campaign.
