FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Lionel Messi, cheered on by a packed Chase Stadium, came to the rescue for Inter Miami with two goals and an assist as the men in pink beat Nashville SC, 3-1.

The Argentine captain has seven goals and six assists over the six MLS games he has played this season. He missed four games with a hamstring strain but has returned to full fitness.

Inter Miami coach Tata Martino said the team was determined to rack up as many points as possible in the MLS standings over the next month before the Copa America pulls players away in June and July, including Messi, who plans to play for defending champion Argentina.

With the win Saturday, Miami remained in first place in the Eastern Conference with 18 points.

The weather was perfect Saturday, 81 degrees and clear skies at kickoff. But the game started with a costly miscue for Inter Miami as Nashville took a 1-0 lead in the second minute on an own goal by Miami left back Franco Negri, who was filling in for the injured Jordi Alba.

A Nashville corner kick from the right side sailed into a scrum in front of the goal, and Negri inadvertently knocked the ball over Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender into the net. The crowd, which had been buzzing from the moment Messi went out of warmups, was silenced.

But then Messi did what Messi does. He scored the equalizer in the 11th minute to get Miami and the crowd back into the game. Messi took a shot, it was saved by Nashville keeper Elliot Panicco, bounced toward Luis Suarez, who slipped the ball back to Messi, who scored on his second attempt with a perfect finish.

The stadium fell into a hush again late in the first half when midfielder Diego Gomez, having a breakout season, fell to the ground and writhed in pain after Panicco stepped on his foot. Miami was reduced to 10 men as the medical team attended to Gomez behind the Nashville goal. He was in tears as he was carted off the field on a stretcher.

While down a man, Messi worked his magic again, curling a corner kick to his former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets, who leaped and sent a glancing header into the net for the game-winning goal. It was Busquets’ first goal since joining Inter Miami last summer and his first goal since 2022, when he was with Barcelona.

Busquets celebrated by putting the ball under his shirt at his belly, a tribute to his wife, who is pregnant with their third child.

Nashville had a chance to tie it up, but Callender made a huge save on a long-range shot from Hany Mukhtar.

Messi scored the insurance goal for Miami with a penalty kick in the 81st minute after Leo Afonso was taken down inside the edge of the box.

Miami and Nashville were playing each other for the third time in six weeks.

Since Messi arrived in South Florida last July, Inter Miami is unbeaten in five games against Nashville, including the Leagues Cup final that Miami won in a dramatic 10-round penalty kick shootout. Three of the games ended tied in regulation. Messi scored in all five matchups, including a 3-1 Miami victory on Mar. 13 that eliminated Nashville from the Champions Cup in the Round of 16.

Miami has scored 22 goals, more than any team in the league.

Nashville is off to its worst start since 2020, stuck in 14th place with just one win and seven points. Injuries to key players Walker Zimmerman, Shaq Moore, Tyler Boyd and Randall Leal have been a big factor.

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