Lionel Messi bagged a brace on his return to MLS action after a two-month injury lay-off, with Inter Miami seeing off the Philadelphia Union.
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- Miami win 3-1 over Union on Messi's return
- Messi scores twice and provides assist for Suarez
- Missed close to two months of action due to injury
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WHAT HAPPENED?
Messi suffered a terrible ankle injury during Argentina's Copa America final win over Colombia in July. Since then, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner has missed a further eight games, but showed his class on his return to MLS action with Inter Miami. The Herons went a goal down after Union's Mikael Uhre scored early on, however, a five-minute brace from Messi and a late Luis Suarez goal, assisted by the Argentine, gave Tata Martino's men their 19th MLS win of the regular season.
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WHAT MESSI SAID ABOUT HIS RETURN
Speaking after the match, Messi said: "The truth is that I'm a little tired. The heat and humidity in Miami don't help much either, but I really wanted to come back, I had been off of the field for a long time.
"Little by little I was training with the group, feeling good and that's why we decided that I would start, and I'm very happy – very happy."
- IMAGO
WHAT NEXT FOR MESSI?
Martino kept Messi on the field for the entirety of the match, hinting at a return to full fitness. As such, it is likely that the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner will be a starter again for Inter Miami when they take on Atalanta United on Wednesday, September 18.
