Lionel Messi is at his best amid chaos.
In the 52nd minute against CF Montreal on Saturday in Miami, Messi found himself in a bind. As the Inter Miami forward gallivanted on the ball toward the net, it was poked away from him but deflected back to Messi in a crowd right inside the box.
In two deft moves, the 39-year-old cut past two defenders while ducking under the arm of another, leaving all three grabbing at air as he buried a right-footed shot.
It was the second of a four-goal night for Messi. He also added an assist in Miami’s 7-1 demolition of Montreal, which ended a five-game winless streak amid a period of turnover and uncertainty in the defending champions’ coaching ranks.
“They were in a bad way coming into tonight,” Apple TV play-by-play announcer Steve Cangialosi said on the broadcast. “Not anymore.”
Dancing through the defense 🤯
Messi scores his second of the game and is now tied for most goals this season with 16 😳
📺 Watch on Apple TV: https://t.co/MFnT751CHE pic.twitter.com/QRJpqJL1pC
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 30, 2026
On Thursday, Cristian “Kily” González was hired as the club’s sixth manager since its founding in January 2020. However, González couldn’t be on the sidelines due to not having secured an American work permit yet.
Interim coach Guillermo Hoyos, who has been in charge since Javier Mascherano left in April, had to serve a one-match suspension due to repeated violations of the league’s late kickoff policy. That left Inter Miami assistant coaches to man the touchline against Montreal, while Hoyos was forced to watch from a seat in a box at the top of Nu Stadium.
They all got to watch Messi, an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner fresh off carrying Argentina to a second consecutive World Cup final appearance, steady the rocking ship in South Florida.
Casemiro opened the night for Miami with a 20th-minute header goal from a corner kick, before Montreal midfielder Fabian Herbers equalized in the 37th.
Messi’s account started with a 40th-minute free kick. He curved a low-driven shot around the wall that bounced and deflected off Montreal defender Luca Petrasso and off the shoulder of Montreal goalie Thomas Gillier before ricocheting into the net. It put Miami up 2-1, which held until half time.
In the second half, Messi completely commandeered the proceedings.
His second goal of the night was his aforementioned 52nd-minute wizardry to go up 3-1. In the 80th, his one-touch chip over the defense sent teammate Luis Suárez streaking alone into the box. The former FC Barcelona stars connected and Suárez finished, making it 4-1.
In the 83rd, Messi chipped a shot to beat Gillier and complete the hat trick at 5-1. In the 89th, Miami’s 18-year-old substitute midfielder Alexander Shaw buried one from outside the box to make it six, and in the 96th, Messi was granted the last touch of the ball with a free kick from just outside the half-circle atop the box.
His fourth goal of the night punched the back of the net, welcoming the final whistle seconds later. The match only ended once Messi had the final say.
A night to remember for Lionel Messi 🤯
Four goals and an assist to lead @InterMiamiCF to a 7-1 win over Montreal.
(via @MLS) pic.twitter.com/DVYnVkXw8v
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 30, 2026
“You get to the point where you run out of words that are in the dictionary, because he is just extraordinary,” Apple TV analyst Danny Higginbotham said on the broadcast at full time. “An absolute genius in every single phase of the game.”
Messi now sits atop the MLS Golden Boot race with 18 goals on the season. His four on Saturday ballooned his career tally to 927, trailing only Cristiano Ronaldo on the all-time scoring list.
The lopsided result brought Miami to 42 points on the season, good for second place in the Eastern Conference. It trails Nashville SC by 10 points and sits five points ahead of the third-place Chicago Fire.
“With this result, the talk in South Florida this week will be: ‘Are they back?’” Cangialosi said. Entering the match, Miami had looked rudderless for most of August, but Messi, the magician creating clarity from chaos, drove the club’s return to stability.