Lionel Messi tallies twice early, Miami rallies on Cincinnati blunders late

Lionel Messi scored his 10th and 11th goals and had an assist, German Berterame scored the go-ahead goal in the 84th minute and Inter Miami took advantage of two defensive blunders in a 5-3 victory over host Cincinnati on Wednesday night.

Mateo Silvetti pulled Miami level at 3-3 in the 79th minute, the start of a late rally that saw the Herons (7-2-4, 25 points) win their fifth straight on the road in MLS.

Messi and Silvetti contributed assists during the rally and Rodrigo de Paul had two assists on the night as Miami again finished victorious in a rematch of their 4-0 win at Cincinnati in the 2025 Eastern Conference semifinals.

Kevin Denkey scored his eighth goal and had two assists for Cincinnati (4-5-4, 16 points). Evander added his seventh on an excellent 64th-minute strike for a 3-2 lead.

Pavel Bucha also scored for the hosts, who saw a six-match unbeaten run snapped as they conceded three or more goals for the fifth time in nine games.

Messi provided the pass on Silvetti’s equalizer following a Cincinnati turnover in its own end, playing the ball to the 20-year-old on the left side of the penalty area. Silvetti had plenty to do, cutting back inside and guiding a low finish through traffic into the bottom right corner.

Berterame’s fourth goal of the season put the Herons in front five minutes later.

Messi again was involved, sending in a diagonal free kick toward the top of the 6-yard box that appeared to be a comfortable catch for Cincy goalkeeper Roman Celentano. But center back Andrei Chirila collided with his own keeper, who spilled the ball and allowed Berterame an easy finish into an open net.

Messi nearly completed his third MLS hat trick in the 89th minute, running onto Silvetti’s cross from the left and driving a sliding finish off the inside of the right post. But because the ball bounced off Celentano and over the line, it eventually was ruled an own-goal.

Messi opened the scoring on Cincy’s first big error in the 24th minute, pressuring center back Matt Miazga and deflecting his ill-advised pass into an open goal when Miazga should have simply cleared the ball for a Miami corner.

His second leveled the game at 2-all in the 55th minute from a more conventional strike, running onto de Paul’s cross at the penalty spot after combination play that also involved Luis Suarez.

–Field Level Media