Lionel Messi witnessed his close buddy Luis Suarez come close to scoring a hat trick in the first half. Messi almost scored his own goal after halftime.

Messi scored two goals in the second half in a span of five minutes, Suarez scored two goals with two assists in the first 11 minutes, and Robert Taylor added another goal as Inter Miami won 5-0 over in-state rival Orlando City at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Saturday.

Inter Miami has accumulated seven points in the first three matches of the 2024 MLS season, achieving two victories and one tie. The performance was reminiscent of Messi and Suarez at their peak, rather than in the twilight of their careers.

Messi expressed satisfaction and growth in a postgame interview with Apple TV. Today’s game was crucial for our continued growth, and it must strengthen us for future challenges.

Messi’s initial goal was fortuitous and comical: he redirected a rebound with his chest and attempted a delicate shot, positioned in front of an unguarded net as Orlando City’s Rodrigo Schlegel attempted to intervene. Messi chuckled as the ball entered the net in the 57th minute.

Messi scored his second goal by heading the ball into the lower left corner of the net after receiving a pass from Suarez in the 62nd minute.

Messi got two free kicks in the contest, one in the 91st minute, but missed both attempts to notch his third goal. He didn’t need to after the job Suárez provided early.

Lionel Messi

, the Uruguayan striker, scored from the right side on his first goal in the fourth minute and from the left side on his second in the 11th minute.

Fellow newcomer Julian Gressel, who won two MLS Cups, assisted on both goals. Both players exited the match after 67 minutes.

“It’s very difficult to start again because I altered my form and how I play,” Suarez said of playing alongside Messi and the first two goals of his Inter Miami career. “And I think he knows everything about me. ”

Taylor added to the lead with a goal, his second of the year, following an assist from Suarez in the 29th minute.

Suárez nearly scored a hat trick before halftime, but an offside penalty knocked what could have been Inter Miami’s fourth goal off the board when Taylor was declared offside.

Messi also had many attempts, missing a free kick off the left post in the 34th minute before the floodgates opened in the second half.

One day after the four-year anniversary of Inter Miami’s first match in Major League Soccer, the club earned its largest win in team history, with former FC Barcelona stars demonstrating they had enough left in the tank.

“Those men aren’t here to put their feet up. And I think you’ve seen that over the previous few weeks,” Gressel said of Messi and Suarez. “They’ve been great. They want to win. And they’re striving to do everything for the team to win.”

The match was Inter Miami’s third of the season and came six days after their last. But the journey gets difficult again with Inter Miami in a span of five matches in 14 days, while Messi might play seven matches in 21 days—his last two with Argentina for Copa America warmups later this month. “We have to be more careful with the recovery of the players,” Inter Miami coach Tata Martino remarked.