Messi, Suárez and Rojas Lead Historic 6-2 Win at Home Over the New York Red Bulls

May 4, 2024 – Major League Soccer (MLS)
Inter Miami CF News Release

Inter Miami CF (7W-2L-3D, 24 points) earned an emphatic 6-2 win over the New York Red Bulls tonight at Chase Stadium in a memorable fixture that saw the team score the most goals in a match in Club history, in front of a second-consecutive Club-record home crowd. Yet another historic appearance from Lionel Messi led the team to victory on the night, with our captain tallying a goal and five assists to make MLS history by becoming the first player to register five assists in a match, and first to have six goal contributions in a game. Striker Luis Suárez’s first hat trick in MLS and a brace from second-half substitute Matías Rojas – his first Inter Miami goals – sealed the team’s dominant performance.

Lineup Notes

Inter Miami took the pitch at Chase Stadium with one change to the team’s starting XI from last weekend’s road win over the New England Revolution. Drake Callender started in goal; Marcelo Weigandt, Tomás Avilés, Nicolás Freire and Franco Negri formed a line of four at the back; Julian Gressel, Sergio Busquets and David Ruiz formed the midfield three; captain Messi and Robert Taylor flanked striker Suárez in attack.

Match Action

A slow start to the match saw few attacking opportunities for both sides. It was the visitors, however, that broke the deadlock, with New York taking a 0-1 lead in the 30th minute through a goal by forward Dante Vanzeir.

Halftime then saw Inter Miami make a substitution as it looked to create more danger in attack, with Rojas coming on in place of Ruiz to make his home debut at Chase Stadium.

The substitution had an immediate impact on the match, with Rojas scoring the equalizer for Inter Miami minutes later. In the 48th minute, Messi controlled a long delivery from Busquets on the right end of the pitch before finding Rojas in the center of the pitch. The Paraguayan midfielder then took a touch to create space and leave two defenders behind before unleashing a long-distance left-footed strike to the top right corner of the goal to tie the match 1-1. The goal was Rojas’ first for the Club and first in MLS, while the assists was Messi’s team- and league-leading eighth this regular season. With the assist, Messi became just the third player all-time with a goal contribution in each of his first eight MLS games of a season.

Just two minutes later Inter Miami completed the comeback in the 50th minute. High pressure from Rojas resulted in a turnover from the Red…