{"id":830,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/830","headline":"Messi scores twice as Inter Miami beats Atlanta United 3-1","dek":"The two goals push Messi's MLS-leading total to 25 while his first-half assist put him level atop the league's assist chart too.","body":"Lionel Messi scored twice in the second half on Saturday to lead Inter Miami past host Atlanta United 3-1, extending his MLS-leading goal tally to 25.\n\nThe scoring stayed locked at nil until the final minute of the first half, when Germán Berterame converted assists from Messi and Luis Suárez for his ninth goal in his first 26 MLS appearances. Messi then took over, scoring in the 56th and 60th minutes to put Miami up 3-0. Berterame assisted on both of Messi's goals, and Suárez picked up a helper on the second.\n\nThe first-half assist also moved Messi into a tie with Los Angeles FC's Son Heung-min for the league lead in assists with 15, making him the first player in MLS history to reach at least 15 assists in three consecutive seasons. Messi won last season's Golden Boot with 29 goals, and this latest outburst keeps him firmly in the conversation for a third straight MVP award.\n\nThe win was Miami's third in a row, keeping the club rolling as Messi continues to pad his league-leading numbers in both goals and assists.","published_at":"2026-10-18T05:50:08.332287+00:00","source_count":3,"written_from":[{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"Messi scores twice, takes season tally to 25 in Miami win at Atlanta","url":"https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/50206341/lionel-messi-goals-inter-miami-atlanta-united-mls"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Lionel Messi scores twice, adds assist to propel Inter Miami to 3-1 victory over Atlanta United","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/lionel-messi-scores-twice-adds-014833275.html"},{"outlet":"The Athletic","publisher":"The Athletic","title":"Lionel Messi continues run at third straight MLS MVP with two-goal masterclass","url":"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7699811/2026/10/17/lionel-messi-goals-video-inter-miami-atlanta-united/"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Lionel Messi makes MLS history in latest Inter Miami masterpiece","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/lionel-messi-makes-mls-history-023600368.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"🎥 At 39, Messi averages a goal a game since the World Cup","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/39-messi-averages-goal-game-025300135.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Messi leads Inter Miami past Atlanta with two goals and an assist","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/messi-leads-inter-miami-past-063323609.html"}],"image":{"url":"https://a2.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2026%2F1018%2Fr1732270_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg","credit":"ESPN","width":1296},"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}