Inter Miami 3-3 St. Louis City: Alba stars as Messi makes history in MLS draw

Lionel Messi achieved an unprecedented MLS feat on Sunday but his heroics, and a star Jordi Alba performance, could not drag Inter Miami past St. Louis City in a thrilling 3-3 draw.

The Argentina and Barcelona great levelled proceedings after Chris Durkin’s early opener, taking Messi to 25 goal contributions this term in just 12 MLS appearances – shattering the previous record by Carlos Vela.

Indiana Vassilev edged the visitors back ahead before Luis Suarez restored parity on the stroke of half-time at Miami’s Chase Stadium.

Gerardo Martino’s side fell behind again after Suarez turned into his own net but Alba, who assisted Miami’s first two goals, saved the day with an 85th-minute equaliser to salvage a point.

The draw left Miami top of the Eastern Conference by two points but second-placed FC Cincinnati have two games in hand over Martino’s star-studded line-up.

Meanwhile, St. Louis remain 11th in the Western Conference but just three points adrift of ninth-placed Portland Timbers having played two games fewer.

Ending the match with a well-fought draw pic.twitter.com/swGg6T0WZu

— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) June 2, 2024

Data Debrief: Messi history in MLS

Having shattered records across historic spells with Barcelona and Argentina, Messi now has another MLS achievement on his sparkling resume.

Messi became the fastest player to 25 goal contributions in an MLS season, recording 12 goals and 13 assists to surpass the previous record established by Vela in 2019 (16 games, four more than Messi).