Messi's two goals, two assists help Inter Miami bounce back with rout of Red Bulls

Andre Fernandez, Miami Herald on Jul 19, 2025

Published in Soccer

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With Lionel Messi leading the way, Inter Miami turned the page quickly on Saturday.

Just three days after a rough 3-0 defeat at FC Cincinnati, Messi was himself again and Inter Miami picked up three valuable points in the MLS standings following a 5-1 rout of the host New York Red Bulls at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, N.J.

Messi, who was held scoreless by Cincinnati on Wednesday, finished with two goals and two assists, and Telasco Segovia also had two first-half goals as Inter Miami erased an early deficit and picked up its sixth win in its past seven league matches.

Messi’s two goals gave him 18 in MLS matches this season, and his two assists brought his total to nine.

Inter Miami (12-4-5) brought its season total to 41 points with the victory as it continued to close the gap between itself and the top four teams in the Eastern Conference. Miami, which beat the Red Bulls for the second time this season, has three games more to play than each of the top four teams it is chasing — Philadelphia, Nashville, Cincinnati and Columbus.

Things did not start well for Inter Miami, though, as the Red Bulls struck first in the 15th minute on a set piece as Emil Forsberg lifted a corner kick in front of Miami’s goal line, which Alexander Hack kicked home for a score. Hack converted despite being marked closely by Federico Redondo, who returned to the starting lineup after missing the team’s prior match.

As Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano announced Friday, goalkeeper Oscar Ustari sat out Saturday’s game after suffering an injury on Wednesday. Rocco Rios Novo made his second start and fifth appearance this season.

But Miami responded nine minutes later when Jordi Alba scored his first goal of the MLS season when he received a cross from Messi on the left side and fired it quickly past Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Miguel Coronel to tie the match.

Alba left the match in the 84th minute with what appeared to be a leg cramp.

Luis Suarez found Messi on a rush up field to create the scoring chance.

Three minutes later, a similar advance went almost the same way — Suarez to Messi to Alba. But this time, Alba crossed it back in to Segovia, who did the honors and put Inter Miami ahead 2-1.

Inter Miami pressured again in the third minute of stoppage time as Redondo advanced the ball into the box, but was met by multiple Red Bulls defenders. As the ball was tapped away from them, Segovia surged in and fired a shot through traffic and past Coronel for Miami’s third score of the half.

Messi scored his first goal in the 60th minute on a breakway set up by a beautiful lead ball by Sergio Busquets. He added a second in the 75th minute.

Messi started once again just three days after his MLS-record five-game streak of games with multiple goals was snapped.

Suarez also started despite his recent struggles as he did not score for the sixth consecutive match across all competitions despite notching an assist.

Gonzalo Lujan (hamstring) also returned to Miami’s starting XI.

Maxi Falcon picked up a yellow card in the 29th minute, which means he will have to sit out Miami’s next match on July 26 at home against Cincinnati due to yellow card accumulation.