Inter Miami CF Forward Lionel Messi Voted MLS Player of the Matchday for Matchday 12

NEW YORK – Inter Miami CF forward Lionel Messi was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Matchday for Matchday 12 of the 2024 MLS season.

Messi made MLS history by becoming the first player to ever record five assists and six goal contributions in a single match as part of Miami’s 6-2 victory over the New York Red Bulls. All six of Messi’s goal contributions (one goal, five assists) came in the second half. Miami’s six second-half goals were also tied for the most in a single half in league history. Messi has produced an MLS-high 22 goal contributions (10 goals, 12 assists) in just 675 minutes this season and he is the first player in club history with at least 10 goals and 10 assists in a single season. With a goal contribution in each of his first eight games, the Argentine is the third player in league history to accomplish this feat, alongside Cobi Jones (nine in 1998) and Clint Dempsey (eight in 2015).

With Messi’s play, Miami has averaged 2.66 goals scored per game, which would match the MLS record in a single season, set by the LA Galaxy in 1998. The Herons currently lead MLS in points (24), points per game (2.00), wins (seven), goals scored (32), and goal differential (+14). Over the last four games, the club has scored 16 goals with at least three goals in each match.

Miami trailed 1-0 entering the second half but equalized in the 48th minute when Messi found new signing Matías Rojas, whose long-ranged effort found the top corner of the net. After a Red Bulls defender turned the ball over, Messi gave Miami the advantage with a left-footed finish in the 50th minute. In the 62nd minute, Messi found himself surrounded by multiple defenders, but spotted Rojas making a darting run and played a diagonal pass through the defense, which Rojas scored with an adept chip over the goalkeeper. Seven minutes later, the Argentine legend picked out Luis Suárez in the box who acrobatically volleyed the ball into the side netting for a 4-1 lead. Messi picked up another assist on a quick passing combination with Suárez in the 75th minute and then set the MLS record in the 81st minute as he found Suárez again to help complete the Uruguayan’s hat trick.

Messi has earned three of the last four MLS Player of the Matchday honors in the same season, becoming the second player in MLS history to accomplish this feat alongside former New York Red Bulls forward Thierry Henry in 2012 (Matchdays 3, 4, and 5). The…