Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez scored twice each as Inter Miami cruised to a 4-0 victory over DC United in Major League Soccer (MLS) at Nu Stadium on Sunday.
The Argentine and Uruguayan stars shared all four goals as Miami dominated the visitors to secure three important points in the Eastern Conference.
Suarez gave Miami a dream start by opening the scoring in the third minute. The veteran striker finished from close range after a fine team move ended with a cross into the penalty area.
DC United tried to respond and nearly equalised in the 13th minute. However, their effort went narrowly wide of the post.
Miami continued to control possession and create chances, although the visitors managed to keep Messi quiet for much of the opening half. Suarez then doubled the lead in the 38th minute. Messi fired a powerful shot that the DC United goalkeeper could only push away. Suarez reacted quickly and turned home the rebound to complete his brace.
Miami went into the break with a comfortable 2-0 advantage. Messi took centre stage after the restart and extended the lead to 3-0 in the 48th minute. The 39-year-old Argentine produced a brilliant strike from outside the penalty area, sending the ball into the bottom corner beyond the goalkeeper.
Messi struck again in the 60th minute to make it 4-0. He went on a solo run, beat several defenders with his quick movement and calmly finished the move.
The goal took Messi’s career tally to 934 official goals. DC United goalkeeper Sean Johnson made several important saves during the second half to prevent Miami from adding more goals.
Messi nearly completed his hat-trick in the 75th minute after combining with Rodrigo De Paul, but his effort went narrowly wide. Miami controlled the closing stages as DC United struggled to create clear chances.
The hosts held on to their four-goal lead through five minutes of added time to complete a convincing victory. The result gave Inter Miami another three points in their push towards the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
