Who does this? Literally no one!
Everyone knew Lionel Messi would be the best player in MLS upon arrival, but we’re now getting a look at just how extreme the situation is.
Messi produced a staggering five (5) assists in one half Saturday night, helping Inter Miami to a 6-2 demolition of the New York Red Bulls.
Luis Suárez and new addition Matías Rojas were the beneficiaries, with the Uruguayan star notching a hat trick. Rojas would strike twice, while Messi would chip in a goal for good measure, because why not?
It didn’t seem like the kind of night where this would happen. The Red Bulls actually walked off at halftime up 1-0 on a Dante Vanzeir goal, and had to be feeling alright about how things were going.
Messi had a different idea in mind.
Rojas would enter at halftime, and the Paraguayan played a major part in flipping this game on its head. Messi’s first assist would come just three minutes after play restarted, but in truth it was mostly about the thunderbolt Rojas unleashed from long range. This time, all Messi had to do was play a square pass.
Two minutes later, the Red Bulls seemed to begin to collapse. Rojas’ pressure created a bad giveaway, and Suárez helped the ball on for Messi to finish with a first-time strike.
In alarming news for the rest of MLS, Rojas — making just his second appearance since being signed on April 23 — seemed to have an instant rapport with Messi. The duo would link up again, playing increasingly intricate one-twos until Messi defied geometry and our common understanding of space to send Rojas through for a 62nd minute goal.
Things just got worse for RBNY. Benjamin Cremaschi’s chip found Messi in behind the defense in the 69th minute, and two Red Bulls spent an eternity trying to just contain the Argentine icon.
Good news: they did avoid being beaten on the dribble. It’s just that Messi wedged a pass through a miniscule gap, finding Suárez on the doorstep to make it 4-1.
Next up? Another give-and-go sequence, this time with Messi waltzing away from the midfield in possession before combining with Suárez for a point-blank finish.
There was still more time, and with the Red Bulls seemingly unable to track Messi coming out of midfield, more goals were inevitable.
Messi seemed to consider the prospect of dribbling several people for a moment, but ultimately played a slide-rule pass that found Suárez, and the other former Barcelona great on the field evaded goalkeeper Carlos Coronel before shooting home from an acute angle.
On another night, Suárez’s hat trick and the big scoreline would have garnered all the attention. It’s just that Messi did something no one else has ever done, with his five assists and six goal involvements both setting new MLS records.
Entering the night, only 10 players in MLS had five assists on the season. For Messi, five assists in this game required just a 33-minute span, during which he also scored.
That leaves Messi atop the Golden Boot leaderboard with 10, and also way out in front on the assist chart with 12. Carlos Vela once had 49 goal involvements in a single season, setting the MLS record with 34 goals in the process.
Messi’s 22 combined goals and assists, gathered in just in eight appearances, have him on pace to get to around 61 if he plays the rest of Miami’s 22 remaining matches.
So yeah, looks like the guy can play a little.
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